Daniel Rigney

Daniel C. Rigney, a long-time missionary with Ariel Ministries, passed out of this life into one infinitely better on September 28th, 2010 at the age of 73. Daniel came to saving faith in 1962, when he accepted Messiah Jesus as his savior. It was soon after coming to believe that Daniel began using his gifts for the Kingdom of God. For over 46 years, Daniel and his wife Arlene were fully involved in Jewish outreach and discipleship. They served many years within the Jewish community of Baltimore, a good amount of time was also spent in ministry in Russia, as well as each Summer at Camp Shoshanah. Many people came to faith, and many more were discipled. There are dozens of believers in active service for the Lord today who were mentored or discipled by Daniel over the last four decades, some of these are prominent leaders within Messianic Jewish ministry. We honor Dan’s example of faithfulness.

Dan & Arlene have been mainstays at Camp Shoshanah. They were involved in many areas of the Camp program, with Dan being Camp Manager for most of the years from 1973 thru the mid 1990's. Dan served as Camp Chaplain for all those years and right through to his last summer there, 2010. He was a counselor, friend, confidante, teacher, preacher, as well as being pretty handy with a power saw or a plumbers wrench. He oversaw the worship services and established and ran the men's prayer gathering. For some arriving from long distances or overseas, Dan was their initial intro to Camp as he and Arlene picked up incoming students at Bus, Train & Ferry terminals. For many, their memory of their first morning waking up at Camp was Daniel's booming voice coming over the loudspeaker at 7 AM with the words: "GOOD MORNING CAMP SHOSHANAH" !! followed by a word of encouragement or a silly song.

Hebrews 11 is the roll-call of those believers before Messiah who lived a life of faith. If there was an equivalent for this age of Grace, the name of Daniel Rigney would appear as one who lived each day desiring to do what he could for the Kingdom and to tell others about the King.

Well done, good and faithful servant . . . Enter into the joy of your Master

Dan officiates over a Family/Baby Dedication for Jewish believers at Camp, 2003. He's wearing his Israeli Army Kippah.

Dan & Arlene Rigney always had a group of believers from their Baltimore Fellowship in the early years, 1984 is pictured here.

Shabbat Diners at Camp have always been special occasions. This photo is circa 1985, from left:
Mary Ann & Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Arlene & Dan Rigney, Trish P, and Barney K on guitar.

Pages could be written to describe this photo, suffice it to say that almost 30 years ago Dan discipled two young Jewish men in Baltimore, believers in Messiah. They followed him to Camp Shoshanah to further that discipleship. There they met some young ladies, whirlwind courtships ensued, and both couples soon found themselves under the Chupah. God blessed the unions with children, eleven in all, some of whom are seen here in 2007, with Cupid in the Camp Golf Cart. Thanks Dan!

The closest commercial airport to Camp is in Burlington, Vermont, which is a ferry ride away over the widest part of Lake Champlain. Dan & Arlene would often drive people the half hour from Camp to the ferry terminal, always being encouraging. Here they are with Ken, a believer from Japan who was a student at Camp.

Here's Uncle Dan again with Judeya, another one of the kids from a marriage described above.

Dan playing Auctioneer at a sale to raise funds for the new building, 2004, assisted by Zael

During Camp Shoshanah 2011, people shared testimonies of how Dan Rigney had
encouraged them in following the Messiah:

Here are links to the Ariel Prayer Band and the Ariel Newsletter that came out after Dan's homegoing:

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Markus and many kids at Camp were encouraged by Dan	At this Shabbat Service & dinner Brynn & many others remembered friend & Camp Chaplin Daniel Rigney
Missy tells of Dan Rigney's impact on her family	Terry shares
Dan influenced Deborah and many young people at Camp with his testimony	Michael reads a tribute from his family