Father David was raised on the north side of Chicago in a Swedish Lutheran home. He was very active in the church in his youth. He studied politics at Georgetown before receiving a call to the Lutheran ministry, to which he was ordained in 1985. Through participating in summer Biblical Conferences at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago, he was impressed with the lecture series scheduled around daily prayer life. He also met the founder of L’Arche. This began his journey to the Catholic Church and eventually the priesthood.