Grace and Peace, Hamburg UMC!

I am the Rev. David Nicol, and I am blessed to serve as your Pastor at Hamburg UMC. I cannot answer all of your questions and curiosities, but I can imagine you would like to know a bit more about me!

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Like many of you, I am the product of a Christian home. As long as I can remember, prayer and worship (especially in song) have been a central part of my life. I learned what it meant to be a follower of Jesus at home praying with my parents, reading scripture verses at the dinner table, in Sunday School and VBS, and from singing in choirs and congregations. My mother is a deeply committed layperson and my father a pastor (American Baptist)—their faith helped shape me. They live in Scottsdale, Arizona, where my mother manages a Hallmark store, and my father is recently retired (at 82) from full-time hospital chaplaincy. They are both active in North Scottsdale UMC, where they have led Bible studies and served in various other capacities.

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I spent most of my childhood on Cape Cod, where I became a member of Osterville UMC. I graduated from Barnstable High School in Hyannis and spent several summers working long hours, mostly at an Italian caffè. Wanting to attend a Christian college in the broad Methodist tradition, I enrolled at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1996 as a history major. I first affirmed a call to ordained ministry at Exploration ’96 during my freshman year. Loving the academic and spiritual environment, I went on to attend Boston College and earned an M.A. in European History. Afterwards, I began teaching as adjunct faculty at two Boston-area schools. I eventually answered God’s call to formal theological training and enrolled at Boston University School of Theology, where I completed my M.Div and was commissioned.

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During my early ministry, I was appointed to Buxton UMC and Elm Street UMC in South Portland, Maine (where my son Abraham was born), and later to Hampden Highlands UMC in Hampden, Maine (where I was ordained and my son Andrew was born). Over the years, I have served as chairperson of the New England Annual Conference Commission on Equitable Compensation, a member of the General/Jurisdictional Conference Delegation for the 2016 quadrennium, a member of the Northeast Jurisdictional CFA (2016–2019), chair of the Northern Maine District Finance Team, and a member of the Northern Maine DCOM. Outside UMC circles, I have taught Christian Worship for New England Bible College/Grace Evangelical Seminary in Bangor, Maine, served as President of the Hampden Neighborhood Food Cupboard Board of Directors for 7 years, and sat on the Public Safety Citizens Advisory Committee for Hampden.

In addition to my formal education, I have been trained as a Candidacy and Clergy Mentor, completed multiple trainings in Conflict Resolution, participated in young clergy training at the General Board of Church and Society, and became a member of the Order of the FLAME (focused on evangelism in the Wesleyan tradition run by World Methodist Evangelism).

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I have been blessed to travel extensively—touring Eastern Europe with a choir in college, living abroad in Sighişoara, Romania doing Christian mission work, and joining a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2014. I also pursued a Doctor of Ministry at Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University (Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada), focusing on authentic clergy relationships and their impact on missional effectiveness.

In my personal life, I was remarried in June of 2025 to my wife, Lane Nicol (Fischer). Together, Lane and I live in the Hamburg UMC Parsonage with our wonderful blended family! Outside of ministry and family time, I love to fish, run, read, cook, canoe, and drink coffee (not necessarily in order of intensity).

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Answering God’s call to serve as a pastor has been a major decision, but the most important decision in my life remains committing to follow Jesus. Discipleship and our mutual baptismal ministry are at the heart of my Christian convictions. I can’t wait to continue in ministry with all of you!

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In Christ,

Rev. David Nicol