David C. Noble BIOGRAPHY

My name is David Noble. I was born into a Presbyterian family in Butler, PA. Probably due to my parents’ encouragement, the church was always an important part of my younger years. I knew as a college student I wanted to make a difference in the world and that difference had something to do with my life as a Christian. My chosen path to do this was as a high school music teacher.

I moved to Mt. Pleasant, Utah after graduating from the University of Cincinnati College/Conservatory of Music. For three years I taught music at Wasatch Academy, a PCUSA –related boarding school, and then served three more years as Director of Admissions. For those six years I was also the music director at the Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant where my uncle happened to be pastor.  While I had no intention of entering into pastoral ministry, these first positions felt like a true call.   As music teacher I taught vocal and instrumental music along with classical and contemporary music history. As admissions director I traveled to the 20 states and several of the ten countries from which our students came. I also introduced the idea of a new learning disabilities program that became quite successful at the school. 

I then accepted a new position at DePauw University (Greencastle, IN) as Music Admissions Coordinator of the School of Music and I also volunteered as the director of music at the local Presbyterian Church.  I worked there for three years until I experienced a bout of divine dissatisfaction. I was in the wrong place doing the wrong thing and I needed to understand what God was leading me to do. After talking at length with my pastor and the university chaplain I realized that my avocation, church music director, was more in line with God’s desires for me than my vocation as an administrator. I realized I was most fulfilled by working in the church and that God had other plans for me. So I applied to Princeton Seminary for the M.Div. program.

One added benefit to attending Princeton was the possibility of taking summer music classes and private lessons at Westminster Choir College, which I did. All of this combined to allow me to receive a call to First Presbyterian Church in Farmington Hills, MI where I was associate pastor and director of music for 17 years. I worked along with many others to develop adult education, Sunday School, youth groups, LOGOS, Stephen Ministry, adult mission projects and trips, a reconstituted board of deacons, several musicals per year, and eight choirs of various types. It was a wonderful experience with wonderful people.

As I worked at Farmington, I felt a further call to pastoral ministry without the musical component. I was encouraged by colleagues as well. Having raised my children in the Farmington church and knowing that they would be leaving to attend college in New York City, I accepted an interim associate position at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI), so I could prepare to move in the near future to the NYC area, where I believed I would eventually find a call.  In the meantime my wife’s employer asked her to move to New York and take up a new position. At Grosse Pointe I finished up an unusual call that included interim associate pastor as well as interim head of staff. I also filled in part time as interim head of staff at Port Huron First while they looked for an interim to serve for a longer period.

In December, 2007 I accepted the opportunity to be interim pastor at The Presbyterian Church at Pluckemin.