Meet our team
Church Staff
Alex Semande
Lead Pastor
I love Jesus because of everything he did for me and how he rescued me from my life of sin several years ago. Because God is awesome, he gave me my beautiful wife, Brittany that I have been married to for 10 years now. He gave me 3 gorgeous daughters--Love, Peace, and Praise. I am a proud husband, daddy, and most of all, a proud child of God. I am passionate about helping people to leave religion behind to have a true and real relationship with God!
My favorite scripture is 1 John 2:17
I love playing any kind of sport to compete against people, fishing, hiking, movie dates with my wifey, and watching Star Wars with my girls.
David Dancler
Associate Pastor
As an associate pastor I work with various teams as we attempt to live out our faith where God has placed us. I believe God has something special for each of us. His presence in our daily lives has to be our highest priority. I am fascinated and humbled by the following passage: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." The NIV says, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing." Psalm 23:1. This is personal, everlasting and true. At RHC we are applying ourselves to the task of following our Shepherd.
My wife, Melanie and I have three adult children and three grandchildren. In our spare time we love to garden and spend time with family and friends.
Christian Krohg
Worship Leader
He has been involved in vocational ministry since 2009, serving in a variety of roles including worship leader, camp director, and youth pastor. Christian grew up in Centerville, South Dakota, graduating in 2008 after being actively involved in sports and music—two passions that continue to shape his life today.
Christian originally attended South Dakota State University to study Music Business, but during that time sensed God redirecting his path toward pastoral ministry. He later studied Ministry Leadership at Moody Bible Institute and went on to earn a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership from Kairos University (formerly Sioux Falls Seminary).
Christian is passionate about worship that does more than fill a moment on Sunday morning. His heart is to help the church encounter God through worship in ways that shape everyday discipleship—forming people who love God deeply, grow in community, and live out their faith in the world. Christian and his wife Kara, who holds a Master of Divinity and serves their family as a stay-at-home mom and homeschool teacher, live in Sioux Falls with their two sons, Caleb (5) and Joshua (1). Their home is often filled with music, laughter, and the joyful chaos that comes with raising young boys. Outside of ministry Christian enjoys sports, songwriting and
poetry, working on a book project, and spending time on the golf course or the disc golf course whenever he can.
Dawn Preheim
Kids Connect Director
I’m Dawn! An educator with a passion for sharing Jesus with every child. As an elementary school teacher, I’ve been able to show God’s love to students for over 2 decades. At Rustic Hills Church, my passion is for helping children encounter Jesus through simple Bible stories, songs, crafts, and games. I believe that each child and family is uniquely created by a loving Father. It is a blessing to be part of our amazing children’s ministry team and serve the Lord as part of his good plan. My favorite Bible verse is Romans 15:13 – it is my prayer for each person reading this! "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".
Tanner Caliguire
Youth Director
Hey! My name is Tanner. I have been blessed in this life to be a case study of Gods grace. Through this incredible life God has blessed me with I have been through brokenness and sin but Jesus saved me from myself. After being led to Sioux Falls God blessed me with my Fiancé Paige, and blessed me with the wonderful church family that Rustic Hills is. I want to be a vessel for God to create a safe environment for the youth. The world is very confusing right now and everyone’s opinions are blasted all over the internet. Youth should have the opportunity to develop a relationship with Jesus where they can ask the hard questions and grow in their faith.
Teresa Halling
Administrative
I have spent a lifetime of service to others. I believe it is God's gift to me and the purpose for my life. The guidance for living this way of life was God's directive to my Mother to set the example for me to learn to serve. I was raised child of God; however, as others before and after me I experienced a time of sin. Yes, He was always there waiting for me to respond to His calling me back into the flock.
In recent years since retirement I have grown much more in tuning in with my daily walk with the Lord. I have recently been enlightened to return to work and continue in my service to the Lord by serving others. This has brought me to focus on Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."
Although I have never married or had children I've had the joy of spending time seeing my nieces and nephews grow up. Because I grew up with three brothers playing sports year round I have also had a part of sports in my life just as their children have had in their lives.
Our Intern
We are so blessed to have this wonderful intern as part of our administration team.
Mattie Jensen
Trellis Intern
Hi, my name is Mattie. I am from a super small town in the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina and I am so excited to be in Sioux Falls and doing Trellis at RHC. I absolutely love exploring the outdoors, traveling, and sharing the good news of the Gospel with others. I have worked in ministry since I was 16 and love spending time in fellowship, discipleship, outreach and missions. I am so thankful to be working to obtain my Masters in Christian counseling as well while I am here and can not wait to see all the ways that God moves.