Founder's Testimony

Building God's Way was founded by architect and contractor Daniel W. Cook, AIA. His lifetime of experience as both designer and builder has given him the unique ability to balance the challenges of providing both premier architecture and cost effective design/construction. As the founding partner of the architectural firm Daniel Cook and Associates, he continues to be active in daily work with Building God's Way clients.

Dan Cook began work as an intern architect in Great Falls, Montana in 1972. Following medical complications at the birth of his first child, Dan accumulated significant hospital bills. With this heavy financial burden while still in architectural training, Dan started a construction company to provide additional income. By 1975 the construction company had grown considerably. Dan received his architectural license in 1975 and began design-build work in four states. Dan moved his business to Ogden, Utah to capitalize on the opportunity for profit.

While Dan was focused on accumulating material wealth, God took away that security from his life. In the midst of personal and business upheaval, the Lord was calling Dan Cook. “In 1986 I went to a Christian Businessmen's Committee meeting,” says Dan. “I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my life. That made some substantial changes both in my personal life and my business life.”

Dan dedicated his life to the Lord and began intensive mentoring with the pastor of his church, Washington Heights Baptist Church in Ogden, Utah. With the birth of their youngest daughter, Dan and Claudia Cook stepped up their interest in Christian education. They spent time visiting accredited Christian schools across the country, formulating ideas about the founding of a local independent Christian school.

“In 1994 in contemplating what we needed to do to bring this school into fruition,” says Dan. "I decided to take a year off from my life as an architect and dedicate my full time to the development of CHS. That was one of the great decisions I made in my life.”

Christian Heritage School was founded from the ground up in a miraculous way. Prior to the initial fundraising banquet in March, 1995 the school had $13,000 to its name. Every step of the way, the Lord arranged construction partners, major donors, volunteer labor, and scheduling efficiencies in extraordinary ways. The 43,000 square foot building was completed for the first day of school on September 12, 1995 with 167 students in attendance.

Dan continued his walk of faith in 1998 by giving up the repeat business of his secular client base. He dissolved his construction business to focus full time on developing the architectural systems for Building God's Way. His heart for the Ministry of Construction and jobsite outreach springs from his years of experience in the construction industry.

“For close to 20 years I worked in the construction industry and never had a single time that a church that we were working on ever approached me about what it meant to know the Lord and have a personal relationship with Him. As we started Building God's Way, evangelism became a foundation of that system. We've now had many years of having ministry at jobs all over the United States. These men are becoming better workers and they're becoming better fathers and husbands.”

Many contractors and subcontractors tell Dan that workers on Building God's Way jobs don't want to build anything else—to the credit of many Christian organizations nationwide who've embraced Building God's Way and its underlying Ministry of Construction philosophy.