By Katie Fries
Brandon Davison spent a lot of time at Fresno Pacific University in his late teens and early twenties. But not in the classroom—branded the “Fresno Pacific Thief” by local law enforcement, Davison was a known car thief in the neighborhood. “During the school day, I would walk over there dressed like a student and steal people’s vehicles,” he recalls.
Years later, “God used my pain and hurt and trauma to bring me back to Fresno Pacific,” he says.
This time around, Davison is a seminary student pursuing a Master of Arts in Ministry, Leadership & Culture at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, part of the university.
Davison had “no aspiration” to continue his education beyond his GED. But the kid who stole cars and spent the majority of his twenties incarcerated also didn’t have plans to become a pastor. In prison, he says, “we used to beat up Christians.”
At 28, Davison was out of prison and trying to turn his life around. He fell in love with his now-wife and they had a child, but his drug addiction came between them. At rock bottom, he was ready to take his own life when a stranger’s intervention led him to a recovery program in Oakland—and Jesus.
Sober, he returned to his family and got involved in Clovis Hills Community Church’s Celebrate Recovery program. He remained with the church as he pursued a career in ministry, first attending its school of ministry, then working as a part-time janitor. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down, he began working as an online campus pastor.
But it was a small parcel of land in Southwest Fresno that really changed the trajectory of Davison’s ministry. In early 2022, Davison says, 10 church members began worshipping at what would become Clovis Hills’ Tulare Street campus.
Now the campus pastor, Davison says his experience with poverty, addiction and food insecurity has informed his approach to ministry. Shoe and clothing giveaways, tattoo removal and other community outreach projects are integral to the church’s mission in the neighborhood.
“Christianity for me in prison, and before that, was always people believing in something to make themselves feel better,” he explains. “A church would come to the neighborhood once a year, give us a turkey or something, take a picture and we’d never see them again.
That memory shapes the way Davison does things now. “I never want people to think we’re there for a photo. Just being there and showing up and being consistent has changed the way people interact with us,” he says.
Last spring, Davison began seeing an ad for the M.A. in Ministry, Leadership & Culture cohort. He ignored it until he received an email indicating the program would waive the bachelor’s degree requirement for those working in full-time ministry. Still on the fence, he says a mentor asked him, “‘What if God has something he wants you to do five years from now, and you can’t do it because you don’t have a degree?’ And I was like, ugh. I’m going to college,” he says.
Now in his first year of the three-year online program, Davison is already thinking about new directions for his ministry. A class with Brian Ross, D.Min., associate professor for pastoral ministries, encouraged him to consider characteristics of “highly effective churches.” After taking an entrepreneurial leadership class, Davison has begun to consider ways to create job opportunities for “people from the neighborhood who are unemployable.”
“Most ministry students…come to seminary because they realize ‘it’s complicated,’ and they’re just trying to keep growing and learning,” Ross says of the students in the program.
“[Brandon] is passionate about learning,” Ross adds. “He’s clearly all in with his commitment to Jesus and ministry and wants to learn all he can and figure out how to be the most effective at being useful for other people, particularly people who come from broken, messy, complex backgrounds who are trying to get their lives straight and find God. He seems uniquely equipped for that.”
Davison concurs. “I think that our greatest ministry comes out of our deepest pain. [I grew] up…dead broke, siting in welfare offices with my mom. It’s where I come from. I understand the heartbeat of the community, the struggles, the pain, even the joys because they look a lot different here than they do in North Fresno and Clovis. Even my prison experience…there’s so many people I meet in the neighborhood who have just gotten out and are scared about what’s next.”
It’s a new direction for the former “Fresno Pacific Thief.” “God’s using every single bad thing I went through and using it for the purpose of what we’re doing in this neighborhood,” Davison says.
PHOTO: Brandon Davison sharing the Gospel at the Classic Cars and Candy Bars outreach at Clovis Hills Community Church Tulare Street campus. The church’s take on trunk-or-treat attracted close to 500 people to bounce houses, free pizza, a costume contest and baptisms. (Photo provided)