Jesus Christ came into my damaged, dysfunctional heart—physically and spiritually—at a very young age. I was born with a host of life-threatening cardiovascular defects. At the age of 4, I had a major corrective surgery. Shortly thereafter, I gave my life to Jesus and first experienced a call into pastoral ministry. Because He had saved me from death on the operating table and on His cross, I committed my life to Him and His service.
From there, my path to the priesthood was far from a straight line. Here are a few highlights: In my 20’s, though still a committed Christian, I felt uncertain about my place in the church, and unclear about a specific call to ministry. So the LORD first led me to exercise other gifts, and opened doors for me in higher education. I have served for approximately 15 years as a philosophy professor (at places like Wheaton College, Trinity Christian College and Nashotah House). While on faculty at Wheaton, I met my amazing wife, Christina Bieber, still an English professor at Wheaton. The LORD also gifted us a son, Donovan. Along the way, my wife and I became Anglicans and through helping to plant an Anglican church, we discerned my call to the priesthood. I was ordained a priest on October 2, 2010.
The LORD brought us to Resurrection in August of 2015. Pastoral care and visitation are a vital parts of my ministry at Rez. I work closely with families and children with special needs (in addition to being a nationally ranked bowler, our son Donovan has autism). I also help lead Morning and Evening Prayer Eucharists in All Saints’ Prayer Chapel. Beyond Resurrection, I am a member of the Committee for Catechesis of the Anglican Church in North America, where I helped revise the ACNA’s new catechism (To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism).