Biography

I’m a second-career pastor – maybe third, but who’s counting! Born in Alexandria , VA. , and raised in Ohio , I earned my bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University , where my two older brothers also attended college. After six years in newspapers, I realized my altruistic intentions were being usurped by the need to sell more newspapers in an era of “if it bleeds, it leads” and “don’t bother me with the facts, I have a story to write.” It didn’t take too many such utterance from my newspaper colleagues before I decided to transition to Public Relations and Marketing, figuring at least then I could choose the cause I championed. I earned my master’s degree in Marketing and Communication from Franklin University , Columbus , OH , while working as Marketing and Development Manager for Lifeline of Ohio, which promotes and coordinates organ and tissue donation. As I grew in my faith and became more active at my home church (Covenant Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio), I began to sense a call to ministry and a growing desire to strengthen the expression of my faith in my work life. I developed and facilitated a small group ministry for people who are unemployed and co-led a class on spirituality in the workplace. I approached seminary as an exploratory step toward ordained ministry. While there, I continued in small-group ministry, establishing and facilitating a group for Contemplative Prayer. I was chair of the ‘Wholistic Health’ Initiative, a student group providing opportunities on campus for health and wholeness. My wife, Yuri, and I met while at a perspective-students weekend at Princeton Theological Seminary, where we were married 19 months later. Yuri was a New Yorker living in Manhattan for 20 years, and I only jokingly claim to have rescued her from that little island city.

In my call as an associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Greenville , SC., I have been blessed to experience the fruits of ministry amid the rigors of the pastorate. As I immerse myself in the breadth and depth of ministry, I find that God is able to expand and enhance what I might see and desire. And I am ever surprised and delighted to be a participant in fulfilling God’s good purpose. I have found a natural pairing between my training and experience in ministry and my previous work in marketing and communications. So much of the role of a pastor involves understanding the needs of those being served and then responding in a way that meets them where they are and guides them in their spiritual growth and journey of faith. My calling resonates as a ministry of embodiment, meaning that my faith runs deep within me, informs my very being, and is expressed in my knowledge and experience as a pastor of the PC (USA) as together we seek to serve and glorify God.

While I love Westminster Presbyterian Church, I am excited by the prospect of serving First Presbyterian Church-Independence, where I am confident that with God’s help my ministry will continue to bear fruit worthy of our calling as the body of Christ.