Tell us a little bit about yourself, Dave.

I’m a construction manager for a state agency and live in Lexington with my wife and 13-year-old daughter (pictured above). And Charlotte, the family cockapoo.

You’re a self-described “numbers and data” guy. Some might be surprised to hear someone describe spreadsheets and databases as “fun.”

Perhaps, but it’s true. For fun I like to work with numbers and data. I guess that’s at least part of the reason why I was invited to join Pilgrim’s Finance & Administration Committee and eventually became the church Treasurer. It has become my niche—the place where I feel like my talents are used and I’m most appreciated.

Like many children, you were first brought to church by your mother. But not every adult finds themselves goaded into going to church in a similar fashion.

Yes, I have my mother to thank in both instances. When I came to Pilgrim in the late 1980s, I honestly wasn’t seeking a closer connection to God nor did I have a fascination with Congregational theology. I came because my mother thought that “we”—my oldest sister and her young daughter and myself—should go to church. And who was I to argue with my mother?!

This was actually reminiscent of how I got to church in the first place in the 1960s. My mother insisted that it would do the entire family some good, except for my father, who somehow always managed to come up with a reason why he couldn’t go to church on a given Sunday and so evidently would not have benefited by attending. We went to church until my sisters and I were baptized as teenagers and then, strangely, the need for and benefit of attending church diminished greatly.

What has changed for you this time around, as an adult?

My experience attending church as an adult was, and continues to be, far more enjoyable than attending as a child. I attribute this not to my being older or more mature, but rather to the fact that I have become involved. The Pilgrim community invited me to try a variety of things – the Antique Show, the Pumpkin Patch, Church Council, the Worship Committee, the Mission Committee. Some of these worked for me and some did not. But that’s OK. Pilgrim welcomes seekers, recognizing that there are different paths to fulfillment and to God.

And you have found your niche here.

True, but I would be remiss if I gave you the impression that I only come to Pilgrim to deal with the money. I thoroughly enjoy Sunday morning worship. The sermons always give my wife and me something to talk about during the week. The music usually leaves me humming for a few days. And the people are, well, “Pilgrim People” – warm, friendly, and caring. I have developed many close friendships over the years at Pilgrim, something I would not have dreamed of while attending church as a child. I’m grateful for that every day.