Interview with Rev. David Persons
Wayside Presbyterian Church
By Janita Byars

On a cold, clear day in March, Rev. David Persons (Pastor Dave) spoke with equally cool clarity about his thirty-three years of service at Wayside Presbyterian Church (Hamburg, NY).  With regard to his continuing spiritual journey, Dave frequently refers to “living with the questions.”  He described the life-changing importance of his study during the 1980’s at San Francisco Theological Seminary.  There, an interest in solitude and silence for a dissertation paper won him a grant to study in India, a trip that also took him to the Iona Community.   Helping him prepare for this journey was a key person in his life’s journey, the late Fr. Anthony DeMello from Bombay, India.  This grant, along with the trip in 1987, contributed to a significant shift and a deepening of his spiritual foundation for ministry. 

Over the 33 years of ministry at Wayside, Dave has evolved toward a belief that young people are looking for a church that is inclusive, not divisive.  People are looking for organizations where they can be themselves and not be judged. They are looking for a church program that answers questions honestly. He notes that members of his congregation, over the years, have often asked questions that he himself had never been asked by ministers. 

Dave has worked at building a congregation beyond the walls of Wayside.  He posts summaries of his reflections (i.e., sermons) on YouTube and MSN’s MySpace.  In his words, he “has a small congregation” via the Internet.  He also views the Internet as a valuable “continuing education vehicle” with resources from around the world.  He has often been referred to as the “e-pastor.”  He cautions, however, that he has no desire to sell the church – that he has no need to market it.   “When you have to work hard to sell your product, ask, ‘Why?’”  Passion, he believes, must come from within by a strong experience with the Oneness with God, which naturally then will relate to people.  So much of our ministries, he believes, simply deals with effects, of changing certain outside effects in our time, rather than dealing with the causes, especially our sense of separation from the God and the loneliness it leaves.  When that is faced and experienced, one naturally sees a connection with all peoples on earth.  Spirit is Universal; it is in all races, sexes, orientations, nations, and peoples.  People crave this kind of teaching and living.

Dave looks at the changes in the church, and states, “My thinking today is so different than in my early years.  Church attendance can no longer be based on shame and guilt.”   There are so many issues related to the harmful legacies of judgment and shame the church still faces.  These include a lack of creative thinking in this post-Christian era and the limits placed on honesty.  He focuses on the love and forgiveness in the scriptures rather than their usage for judgment one-of-another.  He recommends, “When someone comes at you in criticism or anger, just don’t push back.”  About the Wayside congregation, he adds, “The gloves no longer come off here.  All of us are working at being compassionate.”  He recommends church leaders and pastors first must “feel the love of God and go from there…  If we follow our hearts, we will not lose the church.  And the church is so much more than the buildings.”

Persons’ ministry has included leadership at Camp Duffield.  For years he led bicycle camps from Duffield and then out of his congregation on around-Lake-Erie trips.   He has led spiritual retreats at Duffield, using ideas gained from his “India experience,” including prayer walks and long periods of silence.  He once asked participants to bring in “something” from their prayer walk and place it on the table.  One brought a clump of snow and, while watching it melt, people began to sob.  The table, the lodge, and the camp itself became a holy place. 

Having recently returned from an Arizona vacation, he said, “One needs a little Arizona tonic every day.  You don’t have to go there in person – you just need quiet and time.”  Over the past several years, he has taken many quiet retreats including using the hermitages at the Mt. St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, PA.   He mentioned how nice it would be to see “Peace Pilgrims,” people who walk around America helping other people, similar to those called “Sadus” in the India tradition.  (While there in 1987, one assisted him for nearly three weeks.)

Dave feels connected with all people, and feels many church-goers are “angry about things that just don’t matter.”  He goes back to the fundamental questions of “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”   He selected as his Lenten theme, “The End of Sacrifice.”  His message is profoundly positive:  “God is God.  The Holy Spirit is omnipotent and omnipresent in everyone and everything.”  One outcome of a spiritual journey is to feel a part of something bigger.  “If you can find the center of your true self, your trip here has been worth it.”