ORONO – The Rev. David L. Grainger comes to the pastorate of the Orono United Methodist Church with a guiding philosophy: All meaningful ministry must be local, personal and relational. This philosophy has informed his career in many locations of the country. He does not yet know the specific form his ministry will take in the Orono-Bangor community, but said he believes it will emerge during his initial year as he becomes acquainted with the church and the larger community.

Grainger said he hopes particularly for connection with University of Maine students and faculty in discussion and study groups dealing with cutting-edge issues. Believing that everyone has a vocation, Grainger emphasizes that nothing is more important than helping young people discern their own vocations. To him, acting out one’s vocation is the essential key to happiness.

Grainger said he sees the potential for the Orono United Methodist Church to become a mentoring community, and his first year will be spent in gathering information about how that might happen.

Growing up in Lima, Ohio, he discovered two main institutions in which to develop leadership opportunities – church and school. As a teenager, he said he found that he had some sense of destiny about becoming a pastor, but he also had some resistance to the idea. The assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 were his introduction to the adult world and the stimulus for his emergent dedication to creating community.

Grainger studied at Kalamazoo College in Michigan, earning a degree in sociology. Biology took a back seat as he discovered his interest in urban planning, an area of study made relevant by his instructor who was also the town’s mayor and could illustrate lecture material with contextual examples.

Grainger then attended the Boston University School of Theology and earned a master’s degree. He directed the University of New Hampshire’s campus ministry for nine years and developed a program, which sent approximately 12 students into ordained ministry.

At the University of Chicago, where he earned a doctorate in ministry, he directed the university’s Protestant ministry. There he became convinced that both education and spiritual formation were essential for community service.

Grainger said he believed it was necessary for people to integrate inner spiritual work and social outreach. His advocacy for this led to his receiving of the Francis Asbury Award for outstanding leadership in higher education ministries.

He also served as a faculty adviser for Habitat for Humanity and led students to “covenant with” and visit the Nicaragua Church of Christ. He asked students to reflect and analyze why the house-building project was necessary.

This too became part of his guiding philosophy. An essential question that Grainger asks is, “How do we conduct the life of the church so that the acts of being the church are formative?”

Further work at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Pace Center included developing a worship community and implementing an on-going ministry with homeless people.

Sustaining Grainger in his career is his wife Susan, currently the facilities and events manager at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. They have five adult children and two grandchildren.

“It doesn’t matter whether the environment is a small university town or a metropolitan area,” he said. “The task is to nurture sustainable and creative ministries.”