A wise man once wrote that civilizations are built by men with families to feed. This is the story of me and Dominion Dating.

My name is Brandon Durham, and next to me is my ever-faithful wife, Amanda. I am a pastor, but in 2018 I lost my pastorate to a woke feminist faction in our church. This left me with no income, and a wife who at the time was very sick.

Then the lockdowns came. I had to do something, but my twenty years of ministry background was basically worthless in the job market. The only other extensive experience I had was 10+ agonizing years’ of online dating!

So I worked with what I had. I got serious about an idea that had been in the back of my mind for years—an idea I believed might get traction.

G.K. Chesterton wrote that anything worth doing is worth doing badly. Dominion Dating would have never happened if I hadn’t dared to be embarrassingly bad at first. I had no money to pay for marketing, web development, and so forth. Early on, I did most everything on my own. I bought a cheap microphone, some video editing software, and began watching YouTube tutorials on everything. I pieced together a website, podcast and promo video, and put it out there.

Over time, as I networked and promoted, I met more and more people who believed in this project, and offered their skills.

Things moved slow at first. Then one day our bootleg promo video went viral. The NY Post, along with Relevant Magazine, framed us as a laughingstock. We got roasted by the founder of Veggie Tales. Even John Piper’s son happily wasted a rant on us. Suddenly, we were a byword to all the right people.

You couldn’t have asked for a better endorsement. Their snooty derision sealed Dominion Dating as the legit antithesis to everything woke “Big Eva” stands for.

Of course, this newfound notoriety proved to be a double-edged sword. It was great for marketing, but I had just accepted a new pastorate, and suddenly I had a band of deranged feminists trying to dox me. Amanda and I laid low for as long as possible, but eventually the Karen Brigade caught up with us and did everything in their might to ruin us. They incited a mob online to try and run me out of town. It got pretty nasty, with threats of protests, and worse. Their smear campaign led to our church splitting.

Thankfully, our church leaders stood by me, and gave me the green light to continue with Dominion Dating.

By God’s grace, we made it past that hurdle, and Dominion Dating was cruising towards take off in late June of 2021. That’s when the wheels came off. One minute I was told we were all systems go—and the next our web developer was AWOL. It left a sinking feeling in my stomach. I hated the thought of disappointing our backers, and I knew it wasn’t quite time to quit, so in a last-ditch effort I reached out to my friend and web designer, Bnonn Tennant.

God exceeded all my prayers and expectations. A few days after we talked, Bnonn emailed me and pitched a plan to get us back on track. He introduced me to his partner at Lighthouse Digital, Chris Sloane. Together, they saved this project from the brink of ruin.

I am truly grateful to these two men, who believe deeply in the mission of Dominion Dating, and sacrificed their time and resources to carry us across the finish line.

I’m also very thankful for my beloved wife, Amanda. She has been a constant support and joy during this entire journey. She has demonstrated tremendous, persevering faith against all odds, and together, we’ve witnessed God’s faithfulness time and again. After three surgeries in our first three years of marriage, Amanda is getting stronger by the day. Two years ago, she could barely walk due to debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. Now she has resumed ballet. Our prayer is that Dominion Dating will be used by God to unite many godly singles and fuel a marriage reformation!

To hear even more of our story, check out our three-part podcast »