Dave was born and raised in a Christian family on the Eastside of St. Paul. He was born-again and surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ when he was an 18 year old high school senior in March of 1980 while reading Ephesians 2:1-10. From that day forward Dave committed to teaching and ministering the Word of God to believers and non-believers seeking to make and multiply disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

While at Bethel College in St. Paul and making disciples as a Young Life leader the Lord called Dave to serve Him and His church as a pastor/teacher. Over the next 35 years he had the joy and honor of pastoring churches in Montana, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington State, and North Dakota. Dave has a BA from Bethel College in 1985 majoring in Bible/Theology and Psychology. He then earned a Master of Divinity degree from Bethel Theological Seminary West Campus in San Diego in 1990.

Dave met Cheri Smith at Bethel College in his OT Professor’s home preparing for an Israel Study Tour. The tour was January of 1984 and they were married January 1985. She is truly God’s gift to Dave and it has been and continues to be a joy to serve the Lord together with her. After 11 years of marriage the Lord blessed them with 4 boys every 2 years (Drew, Tyler, Zach, and Jonny). They sought to intentionally raise them in a Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated, joy-full, gospel-centered home. They enjoyed homeschooling them in the Classical Christian Education model. They currently blessed to have 2 daughter-in-laws: Abigail (Tyler) and Sarah (Drew) and 3 grandchildren: Zeke (3) and Reuben (1) (parents Tyler & Abigail), and Fern (parents Drew and Sarah).

They left pastoral ministry and moved back to Dave’s hometown of St. Paul, MN in July 2021 to make disciples of Christ: life on life, life in gospel community, and life on gospel mission. We felt a call to live as urban gospel missionaries and develop home-based, neighborhood-focused gospel communities in the neighborhoods of St. Paul metro area. They were looking to live this out with a like-minded church in the Twin Cities. The Lord answered prayers and led them to APC and they joined the St. Paul Missional Community in December 2021. They were home! Dave and Cheri became members of APC in May 2022. After serving as a MC co-leader and DNA leader Dave was asked to serve as a Pastoral Apprentice in 2023. Dave officially joined the Pastoral Team in September 2024 by a unanimous vote.

Dave and Cheri feel blessed and honored to be part of the family at APC and to continue to serve our Lord together with you in their 60’s, 70’s and beyond if the Lord wills. Dave currently works full time as a Sales Manager at La-Z-Boy Furniture in Woodbury, MN.

Dave is a co-leader of the St. Paul MC and mentors men through DNA disciple-making relationships. Moving forward as a Pastor/Teacher at APC he will be prayerfully developing his role on the Pastoral Team.