FUMCAH's New Associate Pastor
Bishop Daniel Schwerin and the Northern Illinois Cabinet are pleased to appoint David Profitt as Associate Pastor (3/4 time) at Arlington Heights: First United Methodist Church effective July 1, 2024 for the following missional reasons:
Support the flourishing of ministry based on experience in large church systems
Increase the impact of discipleship systems and missional witness
Help grow the position into full-time
Strengthen the connectional system through apportionment giving to make a difference for mission and ministry in our conference and the world.
Hi! I am so excited for this appointment and to meet you all. My name is David. Words that describe me: inclusion, creativity, engaging people, justice, mission, curiosity, contributing and new experiences. I love to spend time with my family. My wife, Kathryn, is a nurse, we’ve been married for almost 19 years. We have a son, Gavin, 16, and a daughter, Addy, who’s 14. We have a dog, a cat and 6 chickens. I like to spend time with friends, to knit, tend to my fruit trees, ride my motorcycle, and I’m learning the banjo for lent. I’m also making TikTok videos daily as a lenten offering.
My time volunteering in ministry in my teen years was formative and led me to pursue ministry in a vocational capacity. I studied theology in college and since 2004 I’ve worked in ministry, mainly in the church. I’ve worked in a variety of churches in various denominations ranging in week-end attendance from 100 to over 5000. I have focused my ministry on children and family ministries and missions. I also served in a variety of other capacities in the church including overseeing a preschool, preaching, doing weddings, small group initiatives and a variety of other ministry. Recently a good friend and I started a not for profit to support wholistic work being done in my home town of Cape Town, South Africa with at risk kids and families.
I hold an award for taking the longest time ever to finish a seminary degree. I started in 2005 and will finish in December of 2024. I had a little break for 13 years due to my immigration status during those years and lack of financial aid options related to that. I doubled down on seminary when I was able to return to studies because of my desire to pursue ordination.
I am currently serving as the interim director of family ministries at Urban Village Church, a UMC multisite church in the North Lake District. UVC became my family’s home church as we sought an affirming and diverse congregation to be part of. After years of serving in various denominations the UMC felt like family and we felt we found our people at UVC. Christian Coon, the lead pastor at UVC, knew about my desire to find a good fit theologically and culturally and as I began to find a home at Urban Village he encouraged me to pursue licensed local pastoring. I hope to continue to be ordained as an elder and serve the church that way and for now I am very glad to be in the process of becoming a licensed local pastor. I am enjoying learning and being mentored and excited to use my gifts in this capacity.
I look forward to getting to know you and hearing your stories. I am curious to learn what makes FUMCAH tick and to hear the goals and dreams you have for the church and for your community. I am eager to serve with you and move forward together.