From Deseret News archives:

Unconventional pastor bridges divide

Biker, hunter, man of the cloth sports goatee, gold rings and a golden tongue

Published: Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 10:25 p.m. MST
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Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is one. So is author Stephen Covey, who once invited the Rev. Jackson to his Sunday School class to teach about Christlike behavior.

And he loves Utah for its scenery, climate and family values.

However, Rock Canyon is where the pastor's strongest affections lie.

He's brought his unique personality to the congregation, which recently moved its worship services from a Provo church to a Cinemark movie theater at Provo Towne Centre.

"He's not trying to be different for difference's sake," Marlys Jackson said of her husband. "He's passionate about reaching our community, and there are a lot of people who don't feel that they fit in anywhere. He just wants to provide a place for them. You remove all the 'scaries' when you can go to a public place."

There have been chances for the Rev. Jackson to leave and work in areas where a biker pastor wouldn't be such an oddity, but he isn't interested in moving. It's been a wild journey, he says, but he's enjoyed the ride.

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"I think (the Jacksons) are a family that is out there facing out everything that everyone else is facing," Billings said. "But they do it in a pretty darn incredible way. They're willing to listen to people. They're willing to help people. They're willing to suffer with people. They've fit in wonderfully."


E-mail: lwarner@desnews.com

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The Rev. Dean Jackson of Rock Canyon Church in Provo has many interests besides being a spiritual leader of his church.

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