About Me
My background
I am a husband, father of 2, and a pastor. I was born in Buffalo, NY and have great memories of my nine months there, before living in central Illinois for several years. My childhood was spent in the suburbs of Kansas City on the Kansas side before I attended the University of Kansas where I played trombone and tuba in various bands, and earned a degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. Shortly after graduation and marrying my wife Ashley, we moved to the D.C. area where I worked at Dulles airport and eventually spent time in the intelligence community. Returning to Kansas a few years later I worked in banking before spending several years in concert production. In 2008 during prayer and discernment I felt called to follow my father into the ministry and enrolled at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. Upon graduation I taught at the University of Dubuque and served as long term pulpit supply for two churches. Over the past ten years I have served congregations in Collinsville, Illinois and Bel Air, Maryland.
My faith
I view my call to ministry through the lens of Galatians 3:28,
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ.” I am called into an inclusive community that acknowledges the existence of social barriers, but disregards their meaning within the Church. I am called to engage, integrate, uphold relationships, and to work for reconciliation in the image and name
of the One Triune God.
I believe and trust in the One Triune God,
gender-full with the qualities of all humanity,
known as the Almighty, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
in whom alone is my hope and salvation;
and is sovereign, being in all places, and at all times.
I proclaim the Son, Jesus Christ, fully human fully God,
as my savior, and Lord of all creation;
who has made me an heir to the promise of God
through his life, death, and resurrection;
and through his ascension I have a full relationship with God.
I know that I am forgiven and have been reconciled to God,
even though I am broken and undeserving;
that I am a better person than if I did not belong
heart, mind, and soul to the One Triune God.
In gratitude of this gift,
I attempt to live obediently through the power of God,
by loving and honoring God, loving all my neighbors,
seeking justice, tending to all of God’s children,
and to demonstrate Jesus Christ to a broken and hurting world.
Being open to the movement and leadership of God,
I listen for and anticipate the Holy Spirit to guide me
in all that I do.
I believe the Holy Scriptures are the inspired written Word of God, and they are the authoritative witness of God,
especially of the saving grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
That they are intended to be read and studied in communities
of various backgrounds and ideologies in order to enhance
the understanding of Scripture and its impact in our world.
I believe in the confessions of the Reformed tradition
and the polity of the church,
which also guide our understanding of God,
but are subordinate to Scripture.
Being baptized I have died to myself and live into Christ.
I am renewed and strengthened to work beyond my weakness
in the Lord’s Supper as a continuation of God’s work in me,
with remembrance of Jesus on the Cross,
and a foretaste of the feast in the coming Kingdom.
Through the sacraments, which are at the same time
deeply personal and expansively communal,
I am called to be a part of the Church universal,
the body, with Christ as its head;
and to live into a community that builds disciples
and explores a sense of call to mission,
making Christ known in all my words and deeds.
My involvement
Susquehanna Parish Ministry Group
Member September 2019 to current
Organized and Led Mission Fair May 2023
Communications Support
Commission on Thriving Congregations
(Presbytery of Baltimore)
September 2022 to current
Collinsville Area Ministerial Alliance
Member, March 2014 to August 2019
Offer Invocation at City Council Meetings
Engaged in interdenominational work for the community
Collinsville Faith in Action
Board Member, June 2018 to August 2019
Collinsville Food Pantry
Board Member, June 2014 to August 2019
Chair, Christmas Toy Pantry Committee,
January 2015 to January 2019
Committee on Local Arrangements
for 223rd General Assembly
(Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery)
Chair, Communications Committee, June 2016 to March 2017
New Worshipping Communities Commission
(Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery)
Member, May 2014 to May 2015
Chair, June 2015 to March 2017
Organized and led a Regional Gathering of NEXT Church
November 2012
Reader for Presbyterian Study Grant
August 2012
Served on the Worship and Spiritual Life Committee for UDTS 2011-2012 Chaired Men’s Retreat Committee
Served on Student Council for UDTS 2009 – 2011
Chaired Ministry Committee
Served on Housing Committee