I was raised in Niagara Falls, and spent my youth playing pickup games of football, baseball, and street hockey. Now I follow the Cleveland Browns, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Philadelphia Flyers. My faith in Christ was nurtured by the preaching of Rev. Dr. David Kofahl, and the teaching of faithful Sunday school teachers and an energetic youth leader. When I wasn’t competing against my friends or receiving a solid United Methodist catechesis (religious instruction) I would be reading the Scripture allowing its words to penetrate my heart and mind.
In my formative years, as a person living with a corrected cleft lip and palate and receiving speech therapy, I gravitated towards Moses’ excuse to the LORD, “’I have never been eloquent… I am slow of speech and tongue’” (Exodus 4:10). Later when discerning whether to earn a doctorate I ruminated on the LORD’s question posed to the prophet, “’What is in your hand’” (4:2)? In all the seasons of my life, I have found the Bible and/or a resource relating to the Bible in my hand. I stepped out in faith mixed with fear, as the first person in my family to attend college. I had sensed God’s call on my life early and I knew attending college was a prerequisite for ordained pastoral ministry. At Roberts Wesleyan University (Rochester, NY) I studied Religion and Philosophy and studied the Scripture, especially the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. Dr. J. Richard Middleton was a capable guide who challenged me to ask questions of the biblical text and to explore the Scripture’s claims.
In 2006, I attended Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) to earn a Master’s of Divinity. I attended Perkins, with the encouragement of a friend I had made at Roberts. I will forever be grateful for Dr. William Abraham’s challenging Systematic Theology class. Dr. Abraham revealed to me the depths of the Christian Tradition and the importance of listening well to differing viewpoints. On the first day of student orientation, I met Carmen. We married three years later. Carmen is from San Antonio, TX and has survived fifteen Western New York winters. She is a United Methodist elder, and will serve the Bowmansville congregation (1/4 time) and work full-time as a Speech Language Pathologist locally. Carmen loves watching Blue Bloods and The Voice.
We have two children, Nathan (11) an introvert who loves fishing, playing video games, and delivering funny-one liners and Nadia (9) an extrovert, who is always on the move, hanging out with friends, trying new foods, and performing gymnastics routines. The kids have multiple fish and a playful five-year old black Labrador Retriever who is always ready to fetch a punted football, return a hockey ball, or swim. Nathan and Nadia will likely toggle back and forth between Bowmansville and Kenmore. As double- pastor’s kids, it is a blessing to know that they have two faith communities that they can depend on to love them as they mature into young adults and grow into our common Faith.
