Youth Leader Spotlight: David Ivarson
Meet David Ivarson!
David is currently the youth minister at Stuart Heights Baptist Church and has been for almost 20 years for middle school through college students. He is also husband to wife Shana, and they recently celebrated 20 years of marriage! And last but not least, he is dad to five kids: Alana (17), Avery (15), Asa (7), Aiden (7), and Arabella (5). David and his family have made Chattanooga home over the past 25 years.
Ministry Story
Prior to that, David grew up in Tallahassee, FL where he came to faith at the young age of 5. He speaks of his church being highly influential in his faith journey, deciding to get baptized there around the age of 11. Describing his middle school and high school youth group experience, he says, “There were a ton of adults who were super consistent.” Regarding youth volunteers, he emphasizes, “I just knew they loved me and would listen to me.” He explains the impact of these volunteers as “a big shaping of my growing up in Christ.”
By eleventh grade, David knew he wanted to do student ministry. He recalls sitting in a chapel service one day when he surrendered his life to full time ministry. Reflecting on that moment, he shares, “God was all over my heart about serving him as my vocation.” Even now years later, David feels lucky enough to serve full time and get paid for it. It’s true, if his 20 years committed to the same youth group is not enough of a testament, just ask David about student ministry and you’ll see him light up as he talks about it. His passion for loving and leading students was so evident to me as he spoke about it even through a Zoom screen.
Key influences
Another building block in David’s story is the relationship he developed with his basketball coach. He calls this man the most influential person in his life because of his integrity and strategic way of relating to him through the game of basketball. David shares, “He lived what Jesus meant when I think about following him…and he spoke in a language I understood which was sports.” To this day, David aspires to be like his coach, a man of integrity whose actions consistently align with his words.
what you may not know about david
Most recently, God has woven the story of adoption into David and his wife Shana’s family. They have three biological children (Alana, Avery, and Asa) and then two more adopted from China (Aiden and Arabella). When asking about their experience with adoption, David explained, “the story of adoption has just taught our family the gospel and it continues to remind us of the gospel.” Marveling at God’s work in this family, I almost moved on, but David wanted to emphasize a crucial point in their adoption story. He said that people often ask them why adoption? why international instead of domestic? to which his wife simply replies, “Our son and daughter were in China. We just had to go get them.” David and Shana demonstrate a long obedience and faithful journey from open hearts, to fervent prayer, to answering God’s simple call to grow their family through international adoption.
Some Thoughts on Student Ministry
What do you love about student ministry?
Connecting with families and seeing them follow Jesus with their lives
What scares you about student ministry?
The toxicity of our culture- David shares insightfully that the current controversy around masks is simply revealing an age old problem. It provides him with an opportunity, a daunting one but an important one, to challenge students to love people who are different from them: “How do we develop a community that transcends [this toxicity]?”
Best student ministry advice you’ve ever received?
1. Invest in families and partner with parents- parents primarily disciple their kids
2. Leadership is about availability-people follow those they know they can access and rely on
Random Trivia About David
Favorite movie of all time?
Remember the Titans
Favorite Bible verse?
James 5:16 prayer of a righteous man
Name a song that would appear on your life soundtrack?
A Whole New World
Favorite Childhood/TV Show?
The Fresh Prince of Bel-air
What makes you laugh?
Family game night- Nintendo switch
Do you know your Enneagram number?
2 the Helper
Best compliment you’ve ever received?
Compliments about his family- They remind him of the grace of God
Describe yourself as a teenager in 3 words
Goofy, clown, passionate
Ways to Pray for David
Let’s pray for David’s legacy, that he would be known as someone who loves and serves well, someone who is genuine and has integrity like his basketball coach, someone who encourages his family, coworkers, and even strangers, treating them all with the same love and grace Christ has shown him.