Grace and peace to you from our risen Savior Jesus Christ!
I’m excited about doing ministry in partnership with you! I believe that we begin to live our resurrected lives not when death comes, but when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That means that we can experience living in the kingdom of God a reality each and every day of our lives. As Christians, we are on the forefront of evangelism within our communities. That is our calling as United Methodists – to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
I am 55 years old and was born in Lincoln NE. My father, an Air Force veteran, moved us to Illinois and I was raised primarily in Central Illinois until dropping out of high school and joining the Air Force myself. As an in-flight refueling specialist, I was responsible for performing air to air refueling of all types of aircraft and had the opportunity to travel around the world. During an assignment to Altus AFB OK, I met Susan Boerstler of Bartlesville OK and fell in love. We have now been married nearly 33 years. During my time in the Air Force, I took advantage of educational opportunities and got my GED, followed by a Bachelors Degree in Vocational, Occupational and Technical Education from Southern Illinois University and a Masters Degree in Human Resources Development with a minor in adult education. At the end of my second enlistment, I left the Air Force and I entered into the business world as an instructional designer and computer-based training developer for various military and private companies in Dayton OH, Dallas TX, and Oklahoma City. When given the opportunity to start my own company, I took it and I was leading that company when I received my call to ministry.
My family is the secondary cornerstone in my life. After Susan and I married, both of our children were born in Altus OK. Jenny, 30, and Chris, 28, share the same birthday, May 5th. Jenny has a Bachelor’s Degree at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in English Literature and Chris completed his Bachelors Degree at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Mathematics with a minor in Spanish. Susan holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and a Masters Degree in Psychology from Northeastern Oklahoma State University. She enjoys reading and gardening as hobbies and you’ll see her out everyday walking Boomer, our dog. In our family, we deal with a genetic illness (Asperger’s syndrome) in both kids on a daily basis with as much love and grace that we can muster. This illness manifests itself primarily through their social interactions. Socially, my family comes off as very shy and reserved and they are not great conversationalists, but they are loving people who are looking forward to becoming a part of the United Methodist family in this new appointment. To do that, we like to become a part of the community to which God has brought us and are looking forward to becoming a part of your community.
My faith background comes from having been brought up in the church. Susan was responsible for introducing me to United Methodism and it was in 1992 that God took a serious hold on my life. She was raised in Bartlesville First UMC and she made sure that we were in church every Sunday, but it was in 1992 that I had a “heart strangely warmed” experience much like that of John Wesley. Attending a Promise Keepers rally in Dallas TX, I came to know that God loved me in a concrete and tangible way. After that, it became apparent to me that while I enjoyed the business world, I was called to more everlasting accomplishments and I looked for more and more ways to get involved with my local church. I became very active with the local Boy Scout troop, carrying on the traditions that I had learned in attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. I volunteered to begin a ministry of serving communion to our shut-ins. I participated and led mission trips both in the state of Oklahoma and around the world. By responding to God’s call, it became more clear that what God had intended for me was a complete dedication of my life to His work, so I left my business and entered His service full time while attending seminary at Southern Methodist University. I graduated in 2006 with honors from the Perkins School of Theology at SMU and I’m currently about 2/3rds of the way through the Doctor of Ministry program at SMU in Spiritual Formation, with an estimated graduation date of May 2018. My project will be done in Antlers and it will revolve around how do we continue to spiritually form the elderly population of our church, especially our shut ins.
With each appointment, I continue to try to find new and exciting ways of connecting people with God. Whether it be through mission, education, preaching, counseling, social activities, cookouts, or a myriad of other ways the church connects with the community, I’ve found that people are hungry for a relationship with Jesus Christ. Pastoral ministry is a challenging, but fulfilling, calling. To it, I bring gifts of pastoral care, preaching, and teaching and I look forward to magnifying and increasing those gifts through my relationship and ministry with you. I very much view ministry as a shared partnership between the clergy and laity and want this to be a fun and rewarding experience for you as well as for me.
There is only so much that can be said in one letter, but I hope that this has given you a flavor of who I am and my love for you and the ministry. I’m looking forward with great joy to becoming your pastor.
Yours in Christ,
David Mingus
