Career
I am vice president of development at Edify, (www.edify.org) a nonprofit that provides small business loans and other resources for sustainable Christian schools in the developing world. We believe that low-cost private schools, developing Christian character with academic excellence, offer the greatest opportunity for profound and long-lasting transformation in the developing world. With the help of our financial partners, we come alongside entrepreneurial educators, or “edupreneurs,” by providing capital for expanding classrooms, computer laboratories and other facilities, and business training to help increase access and quality of education for millions of impoverished children. In this way Edify works to end generational poverty through a quality education coupled with the moral foundation to ethically apply it. Prior to coming to Edify, I was Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Manasquan New Jersey from 2003-2011. I have also served churches in Menlo Park and Thousand Oaks, California; and Seattle and Centralia, Washington.
Academic Background
I am presently studying non-profit management and fundraising at Columbia University. I have a few more classes to complete before receiving a Master of Science in fundraising management. I have done studies at Harvard University in evidence based coaching techniques, researched the theology of C.S Lewis at Oxford in England and taken courses in religion, theology and the arts at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have an earned doctorate in ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary. I am certified as an Executive and Organizational Coach from New York University. My Master of Divinity is from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena California. I earned a B.A. with a double major in psychology and religion at Seattle Pacific University. Before college I graduated from Hawaii Baptist Academy, a college prep school in Honolulu.
Publications and Media
This blog is the source for information about education, poverty, devotional thoughts, theological reflections, and (hopefully) a winsome story here and there. Recordings of some of my messages are maintained at www.fpcom.org. I have also been a guest speaker at conferences, camps and other churches as time allows. My doctoral studies focused on the art of preaching and the unique role of the pastor in communicating the Christian message. My doctoral dissertation is titled The Pastor’s Story: Using Personal Life Narratives for Gaining Critical Self-Awareness in Pastoral Ministry. It is my conviction that some Christian ministers and other church leaders have not experienced the personal impact of grappling, openly and honestly, with their personal life narratives. Although Narrative Theology is making an impact on the practice of homiletics, the powerful principles of Narrative Theology may be missing in the lives of those who preach. My writing provides a model of narrative theological reflection to help ministers “practice what they preach.” My research and writing explores the insights of family systems psychology, applies it to the organizational life of the church, and focuses particularly on the pastor's personal life as he or she shapes their weekly sermon messages. I seek to point those in ministry toward a helpful method, good model and a safe setting for doing the very intimate and difficult work of exploring the depth of their personal life story, while they are seeking to construct a meaningful message for the congregation, week after week. In my writing I demonstrate how a minister’s personal reflection upon their own life narrative can help them understand their role in the life of the congregation. I also show how there is a dynamic interplay at work between the life of the minister and their congregation. Furthermore, I seek to show how a healthy minister may help lead a congregation to healthier ways of relating. As I am now working in a more corporate environment supporting educational organizations, I am finding many points of contact from my studies to leadership in other institutions.
Broader Service
Within the Presbyterian Church (USA), I have served as a member of the Committee on Ministry for six years and as the chairman of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry for another six years. I have been presbytery vice moderator and delegate to the national General Assembly. I was a member of a Camps and Conference Committee that acquired the Soundview Camp for the Olympia and Seattle Presbyteries. I have led pastor support for clergy colleagues, offering spiritual direction, mentoring, and coaching. I served as the founder and president of the Legacy Educational Alliance Foundation which attracted an initial $40 million dollar investment for the Oaks Christian School in Westlake California. I have also served on the local board of directors for the YMCA which raised several million dollars for a new sports center. I served as ethics advisor and as a member of the curriculum review board for the Conejo School District in Southern California. In New Jersey I was a commissioner to the Monmouth County Board of Mental Health. Of great joy, has been many years coaching baseball and soccer.
Family
I am married to Cindy Moltzau Griebenow Davis of Honolulu, Hawaii. She is a Graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a B.A. in psychology and education. She has a Masters from California Lutheran University and certification in organizational and executive coaching from New York University. She works as an organizational consultant and personal coach. She’s a past school teacher and has directed a program in English as a Second Language. She has led conferences, popular classes in the church, and is a certified Spiritual Director. We have four boys. Grant is a graduate of Westmont in Santa Barbara and now works with Inogen. Blake is a business student at San Diego State University. Lane is an artist with certification from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and now attends the University of Pennsylvania. Scott is a student at San Diego City College. For recreation the family has enjoyed many years of camping, travel, and sports of a wide variety. We’ve all been into surfing, bicycling, hiking, skiing and snowboarding to various degrees. My main form of exercise these days is biking and board-walking with Cindy. I have been leaving the surfing and skateboarding to the boys.
My Early Background
Much of who I am has its foundation in my youth. I learned during my childhood to readily adapt to new environments as my family traveled extensively with my father’s career in the United States military. My mother was a professional musician and gave to my four sisters and me a love for music. I developed leadership experience in my school days through student government and many youth counseling experiences. I developed a commitment to living a balanced life of service and leadership as an Eagle Scout. The principles of scouting still guide and inform me. I gained a great appreciation for the integration of faith and learning through attending a fine Christian preparatory school in Hawaii and a wonderful liberal arts Christian University in Seattle. These educational experiences were an inspiration behind my work as founder and president of an educational foundation that helped establish an exceptional Christian high school. They are also my passion behind my support of education for the poor in the developing world.
Global
I have traveled extensively throughout my life. I grew up in a military family traveling and living in various places around the world. Some of the life shaping places in my childhood are Plattsburgh, New York; the Island of Guam; Limestone, Maine; Bossier City, Louisiana; and Honolulu, Hawaii. I have traveled in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and throughout Europe. We are leading an Africa trip with University of San Diego Ph.D. and Masters student in 2011. In 1999 I spent three months on a preaching mission in the United Kingdom in conjunction with the church of Scotland in Helensburgh. I have led missions and preached (through an interpreter) in churches throughout Mexico.
