He is the creative genius behind the multi-media experience that we experience every Sunday at NCC. Who is that man behind the camera, videos, and sound equipment? Today, we we found Pastor Dave Clark behind the joystick of Ms. Pac-man and talked with him a little about life, work, and football. It’s amazing that he never mentioned the Dallas Cowboys.
What is your official title? And what does that mean you do at NCC?
My official title here @ NCC is “Media Pastor†or “Pastor of Media†whichever you prefer. However, I don’t know if there really is a title for the mish-mash of things that I have my hands in here @ NCC, but I love being apart of what God is doing in all of them. I just want to be a servant with whatever opportunity God puts in front of me.
Tell us a little about the small group that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
Well I love hanging out with many of the guys here @ NCC and so a couple of us had said that we should pray together. So I decided to start the “Men’s Morning Prayer Groupâ€, which meets on Tuesday mornings @ 6:30 am. We get together and share what God is doing in each others lives and give Him praise and then we pray for each others needs and the needs of the church. It has really been awesome to hear the great testimonies of answered prayer and the things that God is doing in the lives of the men here @ NCC.
Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
ALL OVER THE PLACE! Seriously… I’m not kidding =) I am mostly @ Union Station on Sundays, making sure that the services there are running smooth with all of the different technical and creative elements or leading worship there twice a month. However I do love the chance to get over to Ballston on a Sunday. I try and stay connected with the production teams @ both places and make sure that everyone is on the same page. It’s a lot of fun and we have some of the most amazing volunteers in the world involved with the different media and production ministries. They give of there time, talents and energy every week without even thinking twice about it.
When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I accepted Christ when I was about 4 years old at a children’s ministry outreach. I remember it really well. I think I still have the commitment card that I signed that night. The outreach went for 3 nights and I think I raised my hand each night just because I wanted to be sure. =)
A big spiritual turning point in my life was when I was 17 and I really felt God calling me into the ministry, and boy did I fight it. My father is a pastor and growing up I watched how hard my dad worked and how much he sacrificed and I really didn’t want to have to deal with all of that, but God really broke my heart for the lost. I remember one very specific time when God gave me visions of people that I knew who didn’t know Christ and it made me sick to my stomach knowing that I hadn’t done enough to tell them about Jesus. I really felt Gods hand working and placing a call on my life.
One of the biggest turning points in my life spiritually was my freshman year at Bible College. God really rocked my world. I had grown up in the church and knew how to “do church†better than anyone. I had a professor that challenged everything I believed and challenged me to find out for myself why I believe what I believe. I found myself seeking God and wrestling with every element of my faith. God showed up in a big way and reshaped me.
Tell us a little about your background (where you are from, education, your family, etc)
Well I come from a family of 5, of whom I deeply love and am extremely proud of. My father and mother live in West Chester, PA, where my father is the Senior Pastor at Trinity Assembly of God. I also have an older brother and a younger sister. My older brother Dan is also in West Chester where he is the Student Ministries Pastor at my dad’s church. My sister just got married and is living in Atlanta GA, where her new husband is a youth pastor.
I was born in Kalamazoo Michigan, however was not raised there. We moved around quite bit when I was a kid. My family traveled together for about 4 years to churches all across the US and Canada with reality outreach ministries. However by my freshman year of High School we settled in West Chester PA.
I went to college at Valley Forge Christian College where I met my beautiful wife Jenn. Finding my wife was more than worth the tuition. =)
What is your favorite Scripture passage?
1 Cor 9:26-27 “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.â€
What are your favorite books?
I’ll read anything by Andy Stanley. I’m not much of a pleasure reader. I read for knowledge.
What are your favorite movies?
Epics baby! Gladiator, Braveheart, The Patriot etc…
What is your favorite fast food?
I love me some Chick-Fil-A! Eat More Chicken!
What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
We’ll I am a football freak. I played all through High School and started on both offense and defense my senior year. I was also selected as all-county and was selected to play in the All-Star game where I got to play with a guy who actually plays for the Atlanta Falcons now. At the end of my Senior season I was 6 ft. tall and 255 lbs. I was a hoss. I actually got a couple letters for partial scholarships to play at some division II schools, but God had some other plans.
If you were not working at NCC, your dream job would be…
Dream job?… Wow never really thought about it… Maybe working for ESPN Sportscenter, That would be fun.
Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
My Dad is definitely my hero. I have never met a man of God like him. I have always said that if I am half that man that he is I will be doing ok.
What do you do in your free time?
Watch Football with my wife (that’s right guys I said “with my wife†she rocks!). We Love hanging out with other NCCer’s and getting to know people here at the church. I am also real geek, I love computers, technology and all the rest. I am always taking something apart or making a new website or something geeky like that =)
In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
That’s a hard one… How about Kiefer Sutherland ( Jack Bauer in the show “24†). Pastor Mark would definitely be played my Jim Carrey. They both have that same unpredictability to them, you never know what’s coming next. Oh, yeah and by the way Pastor Joel would definitely be played by Michael Richards (Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld)
What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
Love it when Mark says, “I felt like we were hitting on all 5 cylindersâ€. I don’t think they even make 5 cylinder cars. =)
Dave forgot to mention he was in our Fantasy Baseball Group too! He probably left it out due to his finish in the standings.
But he and Michael were our two best fix-it guys when it came to repairing the weed wacker out at the baseball field.
nathan.
November 8th, 2005
That’s Right… Dave is an absolute weed wacker genius. I learned everything I know about weed wackers from Dave!
mferrigno
November 8th, 2005
We’ll I can’t take all of the credit, I learned all about painting base-lines from Nathan and learned that you better wear pants when weed wacking from Michael. =)
Dave Clark
November 8th, 2005