About Dave

General

Dave began at HFC in June 2023 and has been in vocational ministry since 1994, serving as an associate pastor, senior pastor, and adjunct Bible professor in Ohio and Wisconsin.  He has his MAR from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and was in the graduate studies program in the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department at The Ohio State University.  He and his wife Desiree have been married since 1996 and have three adult children- Josiah, Micah, and Jordan Grace.  Dave has a particular joy in Old Testament studies, spiritual formation, and has a heart for special needs children and their families as the father of a child with autism.

Where were you born?

I was born in Akron, Ohio and lived most of my life in NE Ohio which is why I am a Cleveland Browns fan. If you live in that area, it’s like an arranged marriage (by a deranged parent) that you MUST be a Browns fan…no matter what.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer. I wrote my first novel when I was 9.  It was a rip-off of all of the James Bond movies I had seen. The goal was to make it to 100 pages, so I added multiple car chase scenes with pages and pages of squealing tire sounds that got me to my goal.

What two things would nobody guess about you?

I drove in multiple demolition derbies and my second cousin is the actor Hal Linden who starred in the 70s sitcom “Barney Miller” (the family name is a changed name, so some of us spell it differently).

What three things can’t you live without?

Apart from Jesus?  Ohio State football, good pizza (I’m a pizza snob), and great bike trails to share with my son, Micah, on our tandem bike.

What is some of your favorite music?

I am definitely a child of the 80s (huge Van Halen fan back in the day), but I also like musical scores to movies.

What is one of your guilty pleasures?

I will spend $30-$40 on a really nice fountain pen on occasion.

What is your favorite place to eat in Springfield?

Young’s, hands down.

What is my favorite Bible verse?

“…because the good hand of his God was upon him.  For Ezra had set his heart to study the instructions of YHWH, and to apply it, and to teach His decrees and rules in Israel” (Ezra 7:9b-10, my translation)  This is everything I hope to be as a pastor. To learn God’s word, to do it, and then to teach it with the strength and encouragement of God’s hand being on me.