HHmmmm...What can we say about our unique heteroclite pastor/goatherder/ alien consiglieri/cultural architect, chief dreamer, "3D" Dave Wainscott..??

Well. he was born on his birthday, and his dress is for sale on Ebay.  Any questions?

After decades of religion without relationship, Dave, now forty-something (but the third youngest and fourth coolest person of his age alive), came to know and trust Jesus Christ after his freshman year (Dave's freshman year,  not Jesus's) at Fresno Pacific University. This conversion was so radical that Dave has been a convinced  Holy Heteroclite ever since; even (against his better judgment) becoming an interim pastor before graduation. Soon after meeting Jesus, Jesus introduced him to Sonya Kriegbaum, who became Sonya Wainscott (against her better judgment) on August 30, 1985. Dave, who grew up (?) in Sacramento; Fresno; Liverpool, New York; and Guilford, Connecticut, has always considered Fresno home base, so he is thrilled to be pestering (not a typo) in the city of Fresno he loves.

     Dave's degrees (Don't be impressed; Dave always says you can have more degrees than a summer day in Fresno , and still not know much!) include a Bachelors in Spanish Language and Culture/Christian Communication from Fresno Pacific University, a Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, and an honorary doctorate in perseverance from the School of Hard Knocks.. Even though all those schools are great, he is doing his  best to "unlearn" a lot of American Christianity, and is starting all over again in these most amazing/emerging/shifting/liminal  days in church history. He and his church belong to a non-denominational network of "new wineskin" (Dave is kind of a "New Wino") ministries; it's called Grace Covenant, and Dave serves on its eldership (even though he's not old enough) and is one of their "talent scouts" ever on the lookout for outcasts, and others who need GC's style of relationship/accountability without old wine, funky skins or hierarchy. He also teaches for GC's new wineskin version of seminary ( Check out the current schedule here, and see one of his sample course desciptions here).
 
     He and Sonya have two children: Tim, age 14,who his younger sister Sara, age 11, who loves and pastors animals. This may have something to do with the  two quasi-Christian cats, a saved dog, and one Calvinist guinea pig, who have been known to live with the  Wainscotts.
 
        As for Dave's awesome neighbor, Josh Wood, he's quite an artist; the picture on the left was whipped out in mere seconds as Dave shamelessly posed for St. Josh Wood (when Josh was 111 years old).

     Dave, who loves to listen (to God and you) as well as speak (pastoring for a couple of decades;  and speaks at events, camps, and retreats). Some of the topics he is asked to speak on include postmodern/culture shift, "set theory," personal and church renewal, in depth Bible Study , cross-cultural communication, Myers Briggs and Spiritual Formation, spiritual warfare, U2 and "How To Be Awesome Like Penny Ward WhenYou Grow Up." He loves to pray, read  (check out his crazy booklist) and swim (though not usually at the same time), and is planning to take most of you that are reading this with him to Israel, Peru, or Haiti this year, or on a mission trip to someplace you never thought you'd want to go. 

Dave serves on the board of New Creation Ministries (www.newcreationmins.com), a...ahem...sex-addiction recovery ministry.   He is currently writing on issues of church and culture, and blogs and brags about it at his 'Holy Heteroclite' blog, as well as his outrageous  www.MySpace.com (yes, he's that hip and young at heart...no, he's not a stalker) site: www.myspace.com/chiefdreamer. He also sporadically maintains a Spiritaneous blog at www.davestuff.blogspot.com, which currently theologizes on U2 by way of David Letterman, SpongeBob and Jurgen Moltmann! Yes, he's an eclectic nut, and self-confessed heteroclite (Hey, look that word up here, before you draw any conclusions! You are probably one, too!) 

Bless him with an encouraging email (include money in the envelope). And seek him out for prayer, coffee or conversation (sometimes all at once). He loves you, and you can't do anything about it!

     By the way, if you are

stumped by the "photo" of Dave at the upper right. position your computer mouse's cursor (I know..your mouse always curses!)  over it to read the story behind it. Then if you are wondering why Dave appears to be wearing a dress in it, click here for that shocking story.