David Howe

“I’m a geek and a nerd and I live on the bleeding edge of technology. I’m one of the few pastors who would love to go to Comicon and the CES show” said David Howe, pastor of Grace Family Fellowship, our GCI congregation in Elkhart, Indiana. “I’m a geek in the true sense of the word. I had to play with the cutting edge gadgets as-seen-on-TV, including the Flowbee, Dyson vacuum (not a good Valentines gift!), hybrid car and anything cutting edge. I had the first smart phone in 1996 (a Nokia 9000 Communicator; I still have it).”

David grew up in Linden, Michigan and started attending the Flint, Michigan church with his parents in 1973. “I basically grew up in the church. I am challenged by the pursuit of truth. What started as attending the only church I ever knew, transformed into a quest to find God in my life and develop a deep and personal relationship with him. Our changes indicated to me that we were serious about finding the Truth, the Way and the Life.”

David said he wanted to be a pastor since he was a teen and decided to attend Ambassador University. His dream changed for a while after graduation. “After Ambassador, I followed the path that was open, which was technology. I didn’t imagine that God needed to take me on a longer journey to prepare me for what he had in store.”

It wasn’t long before ministry opportunities came about and David started attending the Port Huron, Michigan church in 2002 to work with and be mentored by bi-vocational pastor, Jim Meade. Not long after that, David became the congregation’s bi-vocational co-pastor. “After getting laid off in 2005, and being unable to find an open door in that area, I applied to be the pastor of our Elkhart and Michigan City, Indiana churches. I went full-time in those responsibilities in 2006, then in 2009 I became the bi-vocational pastor in Elkhart.”

David and his wife Ann have been married for 21 years. “She is my soul mate and we have three children, Amanda (12), Ariana (10) and Taggart (8). Ann works with the middle-school ministry, but more importantly she helps me with my messages to make sure I’m able to connect with everyone in my congregation. Most importantly, she is the evidence for me that God loves me unconditionally—she is a constant support and encouragement.”

When asked what he enjoys most about being a pastor, David said, “The chance to see people come to a personal relationship with our Triune God. Being a part of peoples’ lives when God is working through them is also something I enjoy. I love seeing relationships mended and blossom. I love being a part of God’s tool chest to help people be inspired by the Holy Spirit.” Along this line, David said that what he loves about GCI is “our understanding of the early church’s beliefs of who God is—this has been exciting and life changing for me. That I can share in the journey of this denomination as God leads us into the next chapter, is wonderful.”

When asked to share about a most memorable moment as a pastor David recalled a time when, “There was a teenager my wife and I worked with when we came into the area. She had a rough environment and attended our church on her own from the time she was a kid. When she was 16 she decided to get baptized and that was a very memorable moment for us.”

David has many interests. “I love to travel and seek adventure. I’ve sky-dived, white-water rafted, rock-climbed, did the NASCAR driving school in Fort Worth, was scuba-certified, and traveled most of the 48 states by car. I’ve been to England, Spain, France, Canada, Puerto Rico, several islands in the Caribbean and Mexico and we are saving up for our 25th anniversary to take the family to Hawaii. After the kids go to college, my wife and I hope to drive to Alaska. I want to learn piano and how to sail. I hope to publish a children’s night-time story book that I’m working on now.”

With all these interests, David makes sure he has time for his true passions: his wife and family, and “reframing the gospel in ways that connect with the next generation. I’m interested in using technology to promote communication and relationships and to help people connect to our Father.”

When asked when he feels closest to God, David said, “When lying in my hammock with my wife next to me and a fire burning in the fire pit (and no mosquitoes!).”