What are your passions in life? Mine are, in order of importance, loving and learning about Jesus, loving and being with Marje, my wife of 30+ years, loving and supporting my two adult children, and collecting and writing with fountain pens. My favorite activity is holding hands with Marje while we take a long walk through our neighborhood and get to know our neighbors. My wife, daughter, and I moved to the West Valley a little more than a year ago from Central Illinois. We love everything about the area, especially the weather!

Education and Ministry Experience:

I began life as a Roman Catholic and sensed a call to ministry in my late teens. I attended Borromeo College Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio where I earned a BA in Classical Latin and Greek. My journey took me away from the Catholic fold and into the Presbyterian tradition after I met and married my wife during a leave of absence from studying for the priesthood. I earned a Master of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky in 1991. My early career was in small rural churches in the Midwest. I served as a solo pastor in southwest Indiana and southcentral Ohio for a total of nine years before moving to Peoria, Illinois where I accepted a position as the Associate Pastor for Community Building and Small Group Development (Impressive, right?) I did a little of everything during the seventeen years I served there, mostly focused on caring ministries and adult education.

These days I work part-time for CPC, overseeing the Deacons, Prayer, and Stephen Ministries while doing most of the cooking at home and reading everything I can get my hands on about the first two or three generations of Jesus-followers. I love a good debate and am always ready to entertain questions about Jesus, Christianity, and religion in general. Buy me a cup of coffee and ask me anything!