Dave and family came to start a church plant in Florida in the summer of 1998. He is the founding Pastor of Family of Christ, a SELC mission of the LCMS at the northern edge of the city of Tampa. The church started with a few people meeting for a Bible study on Sunday evenings. They then rented a storefront for about a year before moving into the 1st building on the campus. The School started in the fall of 1999. Family of Christ also has a Tamil (an Indian dialect) Indian group that usually meets the second and fourth Sunday afternoons. This group has been over the web exclusively since Covid started in 2020 and will return to in person soon. Family of Christ has now been streaming both Sunday worship times and will continue to do that in the future.

Pastor Dave’s wife Karen. is a Middle School math teacher in Pasco County. Both of his children are graduates of USF and now work in the area. One of Family of Christ’s major projects this year is to further work among students on the USF campus. Pastor Dave also has a relationship with Concordia Village of Tampa on Fletcher as the Chaplain of that facility. Concordia Village is a RSO, Recognized Service Organization, of the LCMS.

Previously Dave has served at Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest Illinois, and at Dr. Martin Luther in the southwest side of Chicago. He has his BA from Wheaton College in Greek and Hebrew, his M-Div. from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, and a MA in Classical Languages and Literature from Washington University in St. Louis Missouri.