Rev. David H. Messner
Rev. David H. Messner is currently the interim minister of the Unitarian Church in Charleston, the Mother Church of Southern Unitarianism, He served as settled minister for seven years at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah, which he accompanied in their growth into a mid-sized church with an outsized public voice for unity and justice. He trained at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY and the University of Rochester Medical Center.
He’s a born and bred Unitarian, a devout humanist with faith in God, and a belief in resurgent possibility--especially when all seems lost. He knows that church done right can become indispensable to a life well-lived. His ministry is rooted in preaching, teaching, writing, and coaching toward collective liberation and individual fulfillment.
He earned his Master's in Divinity from the University of Chicago with an emphasis on theology and religious ethics, his MBA from Yale University with concentrations in strategy and organizational behavior, and an undergraduate degree in psychology from Reed College with specialization in decision making under risky conditions. He is currently completing his Ph.D. at Emory University in religion with a focus on ethics and society. His scholarly interests include the way institutions, their structures, and their practices can be conducive to good moral choice and action.
His professional life began in management consulting with a focus on organizational effectiveness and strategies for growing businesses into new markets. Then for more than ten years, he was a leader in international pharmaceutical businesses (Eisai, Pfizer, and Bausch & Lomb) and was in charge of teams responsible for strategy development, partnership development, and transaction execution. His most recent industry role was as Vice President of Business Development at B&L serving the international pharmaceuticals business.
He currently serves his denomination, elected as President of the Southeast Region of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association and as a Board Member of The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Highlands, NC. He is active with his alma maters as a member of the Reed Alumni Board and of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee. He serves in the community, appointed as the Chairman of Savannah’s Civil Service Board; as part of the Clergy Advisory Council to the Office of the Mayor of Charleston, and as a member of the Clinical Pastoral Education Professional Advisory Board of Memorial University Medical Center.
He was born in Washington D.C. and now lives on Skidaway Island, Georgia with his wife of 24 years, two wonderful teenagers and a Blue Heeler pup that just won’t quit.