About Dava Hensley
Dava Cruise Hill Hensley was born in Leaksville, (now Eden) North Carolina to Payton and Helen Cruise, who worked at Fieldcrest Mills. She grew up in the Eden Church of the Brethren and has recently retired from her only pastorate of almost eighteen years at the First Church of the Brethren-Roanoke. She has three brothers, David, Mark, and Jon and three sisters in love, Vicki, Lisa, and Kim. There are numerous nephews and one niece. She has been married twice and widowed twice. She has one son, Josh, and five young adults who call her Nana. She is the human mother to “Topaz,” Miss Kitty who adopted Dava during the covid pandemic.
Dava graduated from Morehead High School in Eden, class of 1972. She later graduated from Rockingham County Community College with an A.A. ,the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BA degree in Psychology, Bethany Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity, and recently earned her Doctor of Ministry at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. There are a lot of hard-earned letters beside her name, but her work experiences include a server at Burger Chef, a seamstress at Bluebell, a day care worker, mental health counselor, and a pastor, all equally valuable in God’s plan for her life.
She has served the Lord in the local church, Virlina District, and the Church of the Brethren. She has served as youth leader, VBS director, Sunday school teacher, deacon, moderator-elect and moderator for Virlina District, District Conference delegate, Camp Bethel counselor, church planter, Virlina New Church Development Committee, and Virlina Race Relations Team. She has also served at the denominational level on the New Church Advisory Committee, Mission and Ministry Board, as an Annual Conference delegate and has preached and spoken at the Young Adult Conference, Annual Conference, National Youth Conference, and the National Older Adult Conference, the “EGOT” of the Church of the Brethren. She was also on one of the planning committees for the Clergywomen’s Retreat. At that retreat, a karaoke night highlighted some of the clergywomen’s wonderful singing voices and air guitar skills as well as their preaching and ministering gifts!
Another of her passions is working with three other churches in Roanoke, known as the Northwest Faith Partnership, where time is spent together in worship, fellowship, and service. They work closely with the neighborhood addressing issues of health, safety, and justice. They collaborate with Jesus in the neighborhood, building relationships, listening, and faith working through love to be community.
She loves movies of all kinds (except not those with too much gore). Walking as exercise continues to be a goal and she enjoys reading poetry. Being from North Carolina, she does love the UNC Tarheels. She enjoys traveling and is trying to visit all fifty states and all the continents with her family.
She earned her doctorate with her thesis focusing on grief and loss in the church. It is a subject many of us are experiencing in the division and changing times of the church. It was helpful incorporating lament in worship and sermons which allowed a process of working through the grief and moving forward with how God was calling the First Church of the Brethren-Roanoke to be in ministry next.
Dava loves marshmallow fudge, and her favorite HAM is country. Her favorite HYMN is Deep and Wide because it has hand movements. She is humbled by this call of service and looks forward to visiting and meeting with Church of the Brethren family and friends as Moderator for the 2025 Annual Conference.
Dava may be contacted at moderator@brethren.org