I am a born-and-raised South Carolinian. I grew up in a small town, Leesville, not far from the capital, Columbia. My dad worked at a chemical plant in Columbia since I can remember. My mom worked different jobs throughout my childhood, ending up working to this day at the Batesburg-Leesville school district office. I have one older sister, Debbie, who lives in Georgia with her two children, Emily and Avery. Despite my distance from them, my family remains close and gets together any chance we get.

Upon graduating high school, I attended Newberry College, a small, ELCA liberal arts college, where I majored in Religion and Philosophy. Following college, I spent the summer as a counselor at a Lutheran camp in North Carolina. I then took that year after college to volunteer in City Year, a division of Americorps. My particular team in City Year planned and taught 4th grade character education curriculum in Columbia, as well as participated and led after-school programs in the neighboring school districts. During that year, I was also a part-time youth director at my home church in Leesville.

Lora also hails from South Carolina, growing up in the growing town of Aiken. She attended Winthrop University (in SC) and majored in elementary education. Lora is, to me, an example of faith and a God-sent partner. She enjoys music and reading, as well as an occasional game of racquetball. We met in the summer of 1999 at a mutual friend’s party. Our relationship grew over the summer, and we began dating in the fall of ’99. We wedded in the summer of 2003, at which time we moved to Gettysburg, so that I could attend the Lutheran Seminary there. On March 23, 2007, we had our first child, our daughter Elena Lesley.

My decision to come to seminary, along with my sense of call to parish ministry, did not happen all at once. It was, however, shaped by sudden tragedy. During the same summer that I met Lora, in 1999, my next-door neighbor and lifelong best friend, William, died in an automobile accident. His death brought his closest friends together that summer. We supported and cared for one another, and lived through our grief together. When I returned to college in the fall, I had a renewed appreciation for community and relationships. I had started college with a major in Computer Science; by the end of my college career, I had a major in Religion and Philosophy.

During our years at seminary, Lora and I have learned to appreciate the idea and the ideal of community, which I now hold as an important and integral component of the Church’s faith and life. I am at heart a theologian, basking in the complexities of our faith, and growing ever more comfortable in the tensions that exist within a faithful life. I enjoy playing the guitar, reading, movies, and am a major college football fan. Go Tigers ( the Tigers of Clemson, that is)! My favorite passage from Scripture is Isaiah 55.

I am excited to serve Trinity. During my time before seminary, and in my field work during seminary, I naturally gravitated toward youth and young adult ministry. There is genuine curiosity and inquisitiveness, along with a strong desire to serve. And, of course, there is an energy about youth and young adults that is hard to contain. This is what makes this particular ministry of the Church so exciting for me. I am glad God has called me here to be your pastor.