I am married to Kate, a teacher, and we live north of San Francisco with our Basset Hound Reggie. I enjoy being outdoors hiking and camping, reading, cooking, following my favorite sports teams and finding great new beers. Mountains are fundamental to my maintaing any level of sanity, which I will promptly lose if my beloved Cubs (or even Rockies) ever win the World Series. I love learning about what is going on in the world, and I read way too much nonfiction. If I had my way I would be a professional baseball player. Unfortunately I’m too slow, not overly agile, and I can’t hit, or throw, a curve ball to save my life.

I graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary a couple of years ago with my Master of Divinity and am the Youth Minister at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Belvedere, CA. I am passionate about living out my faith and helping empower others to do the same as we work together for peace and justice in God’s creation. (This means we have to figure what exactly that all means, which is where this blog comes in…) I believe that the Triune God is fundamentally relational and that we were created by God to be in community with God and with each other. Throughout the Bible we see God working to be in community with humanity. God is still working to that end today. This is true from creation through Abraham, Noah, the exodus, David, Solomon, the prophets, and then to Jesus, the disciples, and the early church.

I was raised in Colorado going to the First United Methodist Church of Fort Collins, and my faith has always been an important part of my life. Confirmation my freshman year of high school was a turning point for me. It was where my faith started to mature and I first felt God’s call to live out my faith—which has carried through to today. My parents have been strong mentors for me on my faith journey, as have the many pastors I have been blessed to work with in my life. After high school I attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wa where I met Kate and studied religion and communication. From Tacoma we moved to Chicago to pursue our graduate studies, and then to the Bay Area so I could finish mine.

I have a special passion for both working with youth and young adults, and for teaching in the parish setting. I worked with youth of all ages in Tacoma at a Boy’s & Girls Club and at University Place Presbyterian Church. I also have worked with youth in the Chicago area as a mentor with Youth Organizations Umbrella in Evanston and as the high school youth director at First Presbyterian Church of Wilmette. In the Bay Area I have most recently worked with youth as a chaplain in the McAuley Institute in-patient adolescent psych unit at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. In the congregational setting I have experience creating and teaching curriculum for Sunday School, Bible studies and small groups for all ages, as well as creating and leading retreats. I have designed worship services and preached in various churches and settings in each of the places that I have lived.

Currently Kate, Reggie and I are enjoying our life in the Bay Area and are excited to see where God leads us next.