About The Maverick Minister
Hi! I'm Mike Davis and I'm The Maverick Minister. I call myself that because, after a 44-year career as an ordained minister, educator, and pastoral counselor, I have decided to exercise my call to care for and guide people in their journey toward spiritual and personal fulfillment, meaning, purpose, love, and wellbeing in a new and different way, which doesn't always go along with the dictates of institutional religion.
I began my relationship with spiritual guidance in the early 1970's when I was an undergraduate student studying tuba performance at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville. I was hired to be the minister of music at a small Methodist Church in the very small town of Wildwood, Tennessee. The choir was a wonderful group of farming people who taught me a great deal about what genuine community and unconditional acceptance and love are all about. If you're surprised that I'm not talking about being their spiritual guide, don't be. What I have found in my life is that we are all spiritual guides to each other and together we possess incredible wisdom.
After graduation, I began a career as a musician and composer/arranger in the commercial music industry. Yes, I was a professional tuba player for a short period of time. But making a living with that instrument was not a lucrative enterprise. However, as a musician and music arranger I had a very productive career during the mid-to-late 1970's. Disco was very good to me.
However, during those years, even though I was successful, I had a very strong sense that the music business was unfulfilling, and day after day I struggled with what I really should be doing. Finally, I experienced an answer to that question which I really did not want to hear. That answer was that I should be caring for and guiding people in their journey toward spiritual fulfillment, meaning, purpose, love, and well-being. Of all the things in my life I thought I ever wanted to do, being some kind of spiritual guide wasn't even on my choice list, and religious institutions and I have always had a pretty rocky relationship. Needless to say, while I like to think of myself as a spiritually aware person, I have never been particularly religious. But that early call, which I fought valiantly and tried desperately to avoid, was for me to enter ministry in the Christian tradition. Finally, I gave in and pursued becoming an ordained minister. I went to seminary and received a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained in 1983. I also obtained significant training in pastoral counseling.
I served churches as associate and senior pastor and have served as an educator, chaplain, director of spiritual development, and pastoral counselor in church-affiliated independent schools. I continue to have strong disagreements with some religious hierarchy and my experience has been that some upper church management can be more concerned with sustaining the institution than with helping people to grow in their relationship with God and each other. But to be honest, that is my own baggage and there are a lot of people who find religion to be very meaningful and helpful in their spiritual journey.
So, I won’t do a lot of church bashing or speaking in a negative way about institutional religion. I learned a long time ago that focusing on negativity is a pretty sure way to stunt spiritual growth and development. I will be discussing practical and positive approaches to spiritual growth that I believe are helpful both within and outside of religious institutions.
Thank you for visiting this website and I hope that your experience here will be enlightening, uplifting and helpful in your spiritual journey.