Biography
In spiritual direction or supervision, the culture(s) and context(s) you live in matter, because they affect the way you see things and the values you try to live by. As we meet, I try to keep your specific context in mind.
In case it matters to you, my cultures and contexts include:
In case it matters to you, my cultures and contexts include:
- I'm married to Jennifer who works in global education, and parent to 2 adult sons who work in technology.
- For 12 years, I was the core adjunct professor of spiritual direction at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, where I taught three courses on spiritual direction and in the past also taught a course on prayer and scripture. Occasionally I served as a continuing education instructor for Together in the Mystery. For 2 years, I taught a course in the Advanced Certificate in Supervision, offered through Fordham University's Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education.
- 43 years of experience in leadership roles (pastor, professor, non-profit administrator, academic administrator).
- Anabaptist-Mennonite, but with all of my formal theological education from three different seminaries in the Reformed tradition (United Church of Christ and Presbyterian).
- Partly Catholic, since I am a Camaldolese Benedictine oblate of the Monastery of the Risen Christ in San Luis Obispo, California. For decades, have been influenced significantly by various Catholic spiritualities such as Carmelite, Jesuit, and Benedictine.
- Authors who’ve influenced me include: Benedict of Nursia, Julian of Norwich, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Keating, Cynthia Bourgeault, Jürgen Moltmann, Barbara Brown Taylor, Kathleen Norris, and Elizabeth Liebert.
- 46 years of living in rural and small town areas of northern Indiana, currently on the edge of a small city of 35,000 people, with a mix of Anglo, Latino, and African-American neighbors.
- 20 years of living in large urban areas, including Miami, Chicago, and Columbus, Ohio.
- In our current home, I live with mammal neighbors such as wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, red foxes, eastern cottontail rabbits, eastern chipmunks, squirrels galore (fox, grey, red, and black), and groundhogs. Avian neighbors of note include red-tailed hawks, sandhill cranes, great blue herons, Canada goose, owls of sundry species, and scores of others. Honorable mentions go out to spring peepers and grey tree frogs.
- My spirituality is contemplative, grounded, artistic, compassionate, and respectful of the work that is God’s to accomplish, not mine.
