David Fandey is the lead pastor of The Fields, which he planted in 2003 in Carlsbad, California (thefieldschurch.org). He and his wife, Wilma, grew up in the South Bay where they attended rival high schools. They met in a young adults group at a church in Manhattan Beach where Talbot professor Dr. Joe Hellerman was the college pastor and Dr. John Hutchison was the senior pastor. They have been married 33 years and have six children who love and serve Jesus in their church. He has been teaching as adjunct faculty for fourteen years at Talbot. David and Wilma started and led the Acts 29 Network for Australia and New Zealand in 2009.

Q: Share briefly about your upbringing, family, and place you grew up.
I grew up in the South Bay near the beach and was the youngest of four. I loved surfing, skating, soccer, riding bikes and believe it or not, school. My dad worked in aerospace where I temporarily landed after college while attending Talbot. My parents were very strong in their faith and very involved in our church, my mom being the choir director and my dad deacon of missions. It was very old school back then: Sunday school, Sunday service, Sunday night service, and of course Wednesday night prayer meeting. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but God was using it in my life. I had that “early childhood conversion” but it wasn’t until high school that God got a hold of my heart. There was a Biola grad from the 1920s who lived near us and he had been a missionary to China. His name was Oscar Walton. When I was a kid we used to visit him because he couldn’t get out much. At the end of our visits he would pray, “Lord, someday please use David as a missionary or pastor.” I used to think, “No way, I just want to be a ‘normal Christian.’” By the middle of my high school years, Oscar’s prayers had been answered. God had gotten a hold of my heart and I surrendered to anything he might call me to.

Q: How did you hear about Talbot? What led you to come to the school?
While I was attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the church I started attending up there was pastored by Dr. Mike Wilkins. He was a Talbot grad and I was impressed by what I saw in his relationship with God. That summer, when I came home from my freshman year at Cal Poly, I started attending a college/career group in Manhattan Beach that was pastored by Dr. Joe Hellerman, who was also a Talbot grad. Again, I was impressed by what I saw in his life. I wanted to get the kind of training they had! While at Cal Poly I continued my engineering studies and I was heavily involved in campus ministry. I enjoyed that so much more than engineering, seeing people come to faith and grow as followers of Jesus. Upon graduation I returned to Southern California and got a job as an engineer in aerospace. But God was still tugging on my heart. Dr. Wilkins and Dr. Hellerman had such a big impact on my life, I decided to enroll in Talbot at night to see what it was about. My first class was with Dr. Holloman and I was hooked! I loved it! There was no turning back. I didn’t set out to be a pastor, just to receive training and look where it landed me! My future wife, Wilma, who I met in that same college/career group, also started attending Talbot. It was so fun to take classes together and grow in our faith.

Q: What are you doing now in the ministry? How did Talbot prepare you for this?
I am the lead pastor of The Fields, a church we planted 22 years ago in Carlsbad, in north San Diego County. We love our church and are so blessed to be a part of it. God has been so kind and gracious to establish this church and each year we have seen new people come to Christ and be baptized. I’m still teaching at Talbot as adjunct faculty and I greatly enjoy sharing my years of pastoral experience with our students. While I’m no longer the director of the Acts 29 Network for Australia and New Zealand, I still serve on the leadership team there and travel to Asia Pacific three times a year to coach and support church planters. The most important thing Talbot gave me is a grounding in the word of God and an incredible confidence in its accuracy and sufficiency for faith and practice. It also prepared me to let go of what seemed to be so secure, a career as an engineer, and take risks in following Jesus.

Q: What advice would you give to current Talbot students?
First, avoid the shortcuts. You can speed through a class or an assignment and really miss what God has for you. Or worse yet, you can let AI do the hard work of digesting the Scriptures and totally waste your time and money. Take the time to savor and absorb what God has for you in each class and enjoy the journey. Second, don’t miss the relationships along the way with fellow students and the wonderful godly faculty at Talbot. Third, as a part-time student I learned more and it impacted my spiritual formation more deeply than when I was full time with a full load. So, if you are part time, drink deeply as you go. If you are full time, remember it’s not just about getting through a program. God wants to do something in your life while you are attending Talbot. Look for that. Lastly, I think it’s wise to be heavily involved in ministry at a local church while you are attending Talbot. That way you get to practice in the “real world” what you are learning in the classroom, and you will gain more from your education.

– Interview by Ben Shin