David Eardley spoke to the club giving his New Member Vocational.
Talk David grew up in northeast Detroit, at 8 Mile and Van Dyke. He attended Harper Woods Lutheran East and then the University of Michigan, where his career in ministry began. He studied at the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary on the Campus of Northwestern University and received his first posting in 1993 at a church in Britton, MI, a small farming community. This was a bit of a culture shock, after growing up in Detroit.
In 1997, David was transferred to a church in Ann Arbor (which he attended as a college student). He moved to Bay City in 2001, where he became familiar with Rotary, and then on to Frankenmuth in 2006, where he joined their club.
In 2013, David moved to his largest church, in Rochester. He became a member of the Rochester Club and was its president in 2021-22. In addition to navigating Covid, David had a challenging year, inheriting two contentious issues (a money donation dispute and new bylaws) and had to secure a new meeting location. David became the senior pastor at Grosse Pointe Methodist church on July 1, 2022. www.gpumc.org. He lives with his wife, Sara, and 17- year-old son, Ryan.
David understands the importance of Rotary’s battle to eliminate polio as he had a very early in life exposure to the disease. His great aunt Betty Jane was stricken and had an iron lung in her home. Amazingly, she was able to raise two children in this condition.
Seeing how Rotary has helped him connect with the communities he has worked; David is a big proponent of what the organization is and does. With each club, he has seen the friendships made and the commitment to serving.