About Me

Brief Info:
I live with my amazing wife, Mandy, and my daughters, Zoe and Peyton, in Bozeman, MT. I graduated from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and I work at First Baptist Church and The Rock Youth Center. In my free time I enjoy a plethora of outdoor activities, including rock climbing, mountain biking, disc golf, and soccer.

Personal Story:
I was born and raised in Havre, MT and lived there until I left for college. My parents were strong Christians and we were extremely active in our small American Baptist church. My faith was important to me at a young age and I was heavily involved in various youth ministries. I was also thrust into leadership at a young age, being named a deacon of our church at 16 or 17 years old.

After high school I attended Montana State University for a year in hopes of becoming an engineer. I quickly realized, however,  that God was calling me into vocational ministry. After my freshman year, I transferred to the University of Sioux Falls, a small Baptist school in Sioux Falls, SD, where I majored in Theology and Philosophy and minored in History.

During my years in college I was consistently employed as a part-time youth pastor. I served for 2 years as an assistant youth pastor at Central Baptist Church, which, at the time, was the largest church in Sioux Falls. At 21, still one semester from graduating from college, I was hired as the full-time youth pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church. I served in this role for nearly 4 years and was in charge of the middle school, high school, and college ministry for our church. During my last year in this position I also served as the worship leader for our newly-formed, contemporary worship service.

During my time at Asbury I was also a part-time student at North American Baptist Seminary (now known as Sioux Falls Seminary). While I was happy to be working toward my Masters degree, NABS never felt like a good fit for me so I eventually stopped attending there and simply focused on my job as youth pastor.

While I was not attending seminary currently, I always knew that I eventually wanted to finish my degree. When I heard about a relatively new seminary in Seattle called Mars Hill Graduate School and began to research them more, I knew I had found the place for me to study. That next summer my wife and I loaded up all we owned in a moving truck and hit the road for a new adventure.

We made the right choice. Living in Seattle was an amazing experience and taught us so much about the world, people, love, and God. Mars Hill Graduate School changed its name to the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology while I was a student there, but the ethos, mission, and vision remained the same. This amazing place gave language to the ideas I had been processing for years but was unable to vocalize. I graduated with my Master of Divinity degree in 2012 and could not be happier with my education.

After nearly 5 years in Seattle, my wife and I felt called to something new as I took a job at an American Baptist church in Bozeman, MT. I am an associate pastor at the church and am the assistant director at The Rock, a youth center across the street from the high school in town. While this decision has been an enormous change, we are excited about the new life we are creating, along with our daughters, in Bozeman.

My Interests:
Rock climbing, mountain biking, soccer, basketball, disc golf, camping, hiking, playing guitar, watching movies, reading

Favorite Authors:
Brian McLaren, Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell, Matthew Barnett, Walter Brueggemann, Peter Rollins, Walter Wink, Donald Miller, Greg Boyd

Favorite Musicians:
Mat Kearney, Josh Garrels, Ben Harper, U2, Dave Matthews, Mumford and Sons, Anberlin, The Civil Wars