David Felten is the pastor at The Fountains United Methodist Church in Fountain Hills, AZ. I originally became aware of him when he emailed and then phoned me in late 2020 to say that he wanted to preach a sermon series based on my book “A Conspiracy of Love.” I was flattered by the gesture. That series grew to 19 sermons from January through June in 2021. I eagerly watched each Sunday when the church “studio” service appeared of their YouTube channel. Then in 2024, he preached another 12 sermons based on my book “People of the Way” from January to May. (You can see them all at www.followingjesus.org/videos.)
I have come to regard David as my pastor and my friend because he speaks to me about what it means to be a progressive follower of Jesus in our contemporary situation. He is passionate about justice, equality, and human dignity. I regularly follow his sermons on YouTube (www.youtube.com/@FountainsUMC).
On June 8, 2025, Pentecost Sunday, David titled his sermon “Windswept and Woke” in which he compared the Jesus followers in Jerusalem on Pentecost to the current situation in the United States. It is a powerful sermon and deserves to be more widely heard.
In it, he paraphrases John F. Kennedy’s “I’m proud to be a liberal” statement with this comment:
“Stay Woke”
“If by ‘woke’ they mean someone who
chooses to stay awake rather than
sleepwalk through injustice . . . someone who
listens to new voices instead of cling to
old prejudices . . . someone who believes that
health care, housing, education, jobs, civil
rights, and human dignity matter —
then I’m proud to say I’m woke.”
David’s preaching style is warm, casual, conversational, and frequently humorous. Enjoy and be inspired.
