PASTOR DAVID FAGREY

I was born in Oakland, CA in 1962. I was baptized and brought up in the Roman Catholic Church. My parents were divorced in 1974.

 

I remember growing up not believing the Bible. I used to tell people there is no heaven. There is no hell. When we die, our body turns back to dust, and that’s it. But this philosophy troubled me. I didn’t want it to be true, because if it was true then life is ultimately meaningless and has no purpose. Deep down I knew there had to be more to life than just turning back to dust. But I could not figure out what that purpose was. And so I continued to wonder and to wander. I felt like I was standing on sinking sand. But I kept this to myself.

 

It was in December of 1982 at a Christian radio station in Visalia, CA where the Lord first opened my blind eyes. In November of 1982, this Christian radio station hired me without ever asking if I was a Christian. I was playing contemporary Christian music and I didn’t know what I was doing! But God used the lyrics of the songs I was playing to get me to think and to ask questions. I remember asking my boss, “Why are all these singers singing about Jesus?” He replied, “It is because they have their faith in Jesus.” And then he asked me, “Who do you have your faith in?” To which I responded, “Who else is there to have faith in other than myself?” “That is a pretty weak foundation,” he said. “You must feel like you are standing on sinking sand.” I thought to myself, “Who does this guy think he is?” But that’s exactly how I felt, and I had never told anyone before.

 

I began asking my boss lots of questions; and every time, he would answer from the Bible. On one occasion, after asking him a question, he had me read for myself the words of Genesis chapter one. There I was, reading the opening words of the Bible for the very first time. And as I was reading the first three or four verses, one of which was “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light,” it was as if a light went on in my mind, and I found myself believing what I was reading. In fact, I remember saying to myself (I did not say it out loud): “something just changed within me.” I did not know exactly what was happening. All I knew is that what I was reading made sense, and I wanted to know as much about the Bible as I could possibly know.

 

I began to read the Bible from cover to cover. And I accepted as true whatever I read. When I came to the parts about Jesus Christ, I believed whatever I read. I believed He is the Son of God who died for sinners. Like the repentant thief I cried for mercy. Interestingly enough, however, I hesitated to call myself a Christian, because I still wasn’t sure if I was saved. I was seeking God but I did not know what it meant to find Him. Finally, I shared my struggle with my boss, and he said to me, “You wouldn’t be seeking God if He had not already found you. The Bible says that no one seeks after God.” Looking back, I now believe that the Lord caused me to be born again while I was reading Genesis chapter one.

 

About six months later I had the wonderful privilege of bringing my sister (my one and only sibling) to Christ. After a one-hour phone conversation I had with her, she said she got down on her knees and asked the Lord to have mercy on her and to forgive her sins. She and her husband now have seven children and are living in Redding, CA.

 

The first five years of my Christian walk I struggled to stay afloat theologically as I was tossed to and fro by many different winds of doctrine. My spiritual life did not become stable until I discovered the reformed faith and joined the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS).

 

My journey into the RCUS began in 1987 when a member of an RCUS church gave me a copy of Arthur Pink’s book, The Sovereignty of God. After reading this book, I felt like I was born again – again! After that, I was given R.B. Kuiper’s The Glorious Body of Christ, which filled me with a respect and love for the organized church that I never had before. I joined the RCUS in 1988. I was a member of Ebenezer Reformed Church in Shafter, CA.

 

Almost from day one of my Christian pilgrimage I had a desire to be a pastor. This desire lay dormant for many years until I could no longer ignore it. With the encouragement of my pastor at the time (Rev. Vern Pollema) I decided to go to seminary. I attended Mid-America Reformed Seminary from 1990-1994.

 

I married Bonnie DeBoer in January of 1994, graduated from seminary in May 1994, began my first charge in Mitchell, SD in June 1994, and Bonnie and I had our first child in December 1994. We stayed in Mitchell until June 1998, and have been at Grace Reformed Church in Rapid City since July 1998. We now have seven children, and feel extremely blessed to be in Rapid City. We love our congregation, and thank the Lord every day for the undeserved privilege of living where we live.