Faces of Faith: The Rev. David Izenbart

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Senior Pastor David Izenbart sits inside the Living Springs Community Church in Glenwood. | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media

Updated: January 31, 2012 8:00AM

What does he do?

As a 21-year-old on a mission trip to the red light district in Amsterdam, Holland, David Izenbart said he saw the power of God in people’s lives.

“That (mission) was my call to ministry,” said Izenbart, who for the last six years has been the senior pastor at Living Springs Community Church at 19051 S. Halsted St. in Glenwood.

How did he get into his job?

“I was born in Sheldon, Iowa, but I claim Sheboygan, Wis., as the place where I grew up,” said Izenbart, whose father, now retired, was a pastor for the Reformed Church in America.

Izenbart ended up enrolling at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1989.

“I was a football player in college with NFL (National Football League) aspirations, but that was a pipe dream,” Izenbart said.

Instead, Izenbart went on a summer mission to Holland, and that trip solidified in his mind what career path he wanted to pursue.

“The red light district in Amsterdam was a far cry from Orange City, Iowa,” Izenbart said. “It’s one of the darkest places on the planet. We dealt with heroin addicts and dealers, prostitutes and practicing Satanists.

“You could see a despair and openness with the people we were ministering to. They were hurting and lost, yet you could see the power of God in their lives. That’s when I decided (ministry’s) what I want to do — to (affect) a change and transformation in people’s lives,” he said. “Ministry was always part of my life, and it felt like a natural bridge for me to go into ministry.”

Consequently, Izenbart enrolled at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., where he earned his master of divinity degree in 1994.

After his ordination, Izenbart’s first assignment was as an associate/youth pastor at Living Springs (formerly Homewood Reformed Church) in 1994. Later, he became the church’s co-pastor, and in June 2006 he became the senior pastor.

What’s the best part of the job?

“This is my first call and my only call. I love it here,” Izenbart said.

“It’s both a joy and challenge for us being an intentionally multicultural church. We’re multigenerational, multiethnic and multisocioeconomic,” he said. “And it’s a joy for me learning not to accept but to embrace people different than myself. We have a multiethnic staff, and it’s all about us not about me. In a multigenerational context you learn to embrace each other.”

“We celebrate our differences, and that’s important to us. Our mission is to be a spirit-filled multicultural church that radically blesses our community and beyond,” he said.

What’s the worst part of the job?

“I went into ministry in order to impact people’s lives, but a lot of (my) time is spent running the organization with lots of meetings,” he said.

What does he do for fun?

“I have many avocations. I love to golf, mountain bike, work out and run. My kids are into sports, and I coach and watch them play,” he said.

Izenbart and his wife, Kristin, live in Glenwood with their three children: Joshua, 14; Caleb, 12; and Anika, 4.