Pastor Dave is married to Karen, who is an Education and Training Manager at the Maryland State Retirement Agency. Pastor Dave and Karen are blessed to have two children. Philip, 28, who lives in Arizona, and 22-year old Autumn in California studying to become a Pediatric Nurse. His family at home includes two senior Italian Greyhounds and four (yes 4) rescue cats.
Pastor Dave is a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Prior to his call to Good Shepherd in October 2019, Pastor Dave served at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Millersville, Maryland, and at Trinity Lutheran Church in Joppa, Maryland.
No one is more surprised that he is a pastor than Pastor Dave himself! He was an agnostic/atheist from about 18 to his early 30’s. Then he met Karen, who told him he had to go to church with her if he wanted to date her.
Prior to his unexpected entry into ministry, Pastor Dave worked primarily with troubled young people and their families. Positions included counselor at a Wilderness Camp for adjudicated adolescents, juvenile probation officer, and community trainer for a non-profit child abuse prevention organization.
Pastor Dave enjoys writing, reading all sorts of books, playing tennis, attending films and plays, and watching sports, especially Nationals baseball. He particularly likes spending time with Karen close to home as well as traveling.
Pastor Dave also remembers a lot of useless information, which has served him well in the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” hotseat and on “Jeopardy!”, where he was a 4-time champion and Tournament of Champions semi-finalist.
A memoir about Pastor Dave’s spiritual journey, Too Smart for God, is available through book sellers in Frederick, and online shops.