dave wainscott:   holy heteroclite   

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 plus one (but the third youngest and fourth coolest person of his age alive, even though he's been pastoring a couple decdes), 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 St. 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 and HQ, 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 persistverance from the School of Hard Knocks....The Dave-man is doing his  best to "unlearn" a lot of American Christianity, and is starting all over again in these most amazing/emerging/shifting/reformational/missional/liminal /weird moment 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).

Dave really loves his gigs adunct-teaching Bible for Fresno Pacific University's Degree Completion program, and teaching ministry courses for Latin American Bible Insitute's Fresno/Sanger Campus.   If you have no class, sign up for one of his classes.

     He and Sonya have two children: Tim, the drummer, and  Sara,  who loves and pastors animals (This may have something  to do with the  two quasi-Christian cats, a born-again 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 11 years old).

     Dave, who loves to listen (to God and you) as well as speak (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 Keltic Ken When You 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 (you can visit the coffee shop for more details, as Dave is webmaster-barista there).

In a former life as a mainline denomination pastor, he served.. believe it or not.. as a Rotary Club President,  Ministerial Association President, Salvation Army Service Extension Coordinator, and on the governing board of a hospital, for example (these were mostly in Delano, Calif..travel there via satellite)  Currently, Dave serves on the board of   Fresno House of Prayer, and New Creation  Ministries, 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,  which currently theologizes on U2 by way of David Letterman, SpongeBob and Jurgen Moltmann!  His regular  column in Salt Fresno Magazine can be read free (for a price) here.   Yes, DW an eclectic nut, and self-confessed heteroclite (Hey,you can finally 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) or send him a facebook friend request; you can even cyberstalk him on Twitter.  And seek him out for prayer, coffee or conversation (sometimes all at once). He would love to get to know you, and you can't do anything about it!