Dave has been a United Methodist Pastor for over 20 years and serving at Tempe First since 2003, and is actually a third generation Methodist preacher. (His grandparents served as missionaries to a headhunting tribe in Borneo in the 1930’s!)

Dave received his Ph.D. in sociology from Yale University, studying in the graduate and business school. He initially planned to pursue a career in teaching and academics but began working as a management consultant for Fortune 100 companies. He has consulted and written on innovation, strategic and cultural change, as well as policy reform for violence prevention.

Dave then had a call to ministry and attended seminary at Boston University School of Theology. He has served churches in Massachusetts and in California in the Santa Cruz, Carmel and Salinas areas. For five years he worked in community ministry and was President of United Way of Monterey County, responsible for fund-raising and community mobilization efforts in the human service sector. He also worked in Policy and Resource Development for a violence prevention initiative.

In his ministry Dave is especially interested in spiritual formation for those who come seeking God and long to grow a living faith for one’s life in the world. For Dave, faith is an exploration of both heart and mind to build an intimate and active faith out of our experience of God. Dave also believes the church should actively engage the community around us, being a light of God’s presence to address justice concerns and the needs of others. He currently serves as the chair of the Tempe Interfaith/Emergency Assistance Ministry, is on the board of Directors for the Tempe Community Council, Boston University School of Theology Board of Overseers and chairs of Covenant Council of the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dave is married to Kim and together they have four children, who are scattered around the country. When he’s not spending time at church he loves to garden (ask him how he moved 70 potted plants to Arizona), playing the guitar, and making fiery chili.