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About Me  I understand the challenges and conundrums of church leadership. I've been a pastor for 18 years and have 7 years of additional leadership experience in church-related organizations. Since 1996 I've worked in spiritual direction with men and women from many different walks of life. However, in recent years I've specialized in working with church and business leaders, including pastors, chaplains, conference ministers, teachers, presidents, vice-presidents, and CEOs. My abbreviated and complete vitaes are available by clicking on the link at the left.
My spirituality has been shaped by living on geographical edges, including the edges of various Mennonite communities, the edge of a marginal immigrant Haitian community, and the edge between urban and rural communities.
As a teenager I avidly read the Mennonite theological ethicist John Howard Yoder, and as a twenty-something read the Catholic priest Henri J.M. Nouwen. More recently, John of the Cross, a sixteenth century Spanish Carmelite, has shifted my understanding of spiritual development, particularly his insights into the dark (or obscure) night and its parallel growth in contemplation. Some of my favorite preachers include Gardner C. Taylor (a Progressive National Baptist) and Barbara Brown Taylor (an Episcopalian). Although I've been a life-long Mennonite, most of my formal theological education has been in Reformed contexts. I'm acquainted with the dark night, contemplation, spiritual discernment, and a wide variety of spiritual practices. I hold the Doctor of Ministry degree (emphasis in Christian Spirituality) and am a member of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and of Spiritual Directors International. In addition to offering spiritual direction, I work part-time as a pastor at Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship in Goshen, Indiana.
My wife, Jennifer, works part-time as the coordinator of public programs at Merry Lea, the environmental education center of Goshen College. We have two sons, Peter and Nicholas. | | |
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