Career
In October 2020, amidst the pandemic, I retired from pastoral ministry at the First Congregational Church of Redlands. Shortly after, we relocated to Santa Barbara, where I commenced my service at Westmont College. Alongside this, I began leading small groups and consulting for nonprofit organizations. After about a year, we settled into a home just across the street from one of my sons, his wife, and their three children. Recently, my church in Summerland, a beach town just south of Santa Barbara, invited me to serve as their pastor. My early retirement has been unexpectedly busy yet immensely rewarding.
Before my six-year ministry in Redlands, I served in transition leadership in several ministries. I offered pastoral and organizational guidance at the Community Church of East Williston on Long Island, just outside New York City. I served Palisades Presbyterian Church in San Diego as a First Response Interim Minister following the pastor's death of 33 years and continued as Interim Pastor. Before this, I was Vice President of Development at Edify, an organization that supports education in poor communities in the developing world.
I served as Sr. Pastor and Head of Staff at Manasquan First Presbyterian Church on the Jersey Shore for nine years before I went to Edify. This is a very active congregation with a day school, a music school for all ages, a talented staff, and a large volunteer base that actively supports meaningful services for the community's needs. We ran the Manasquan Food Program for those with food insecurity; offered Pastoral Care to the sick, homebound, and dying through a skilled team of trained caregivers; founded a Community Mental Health Center named the Samaritan Center of the Jersey Shore; and provided collaborative leadership among the public sector for dealing with community trauma. We had an excellent music program with regular concerts - and we even went to hear our choir sing a couple of times in 
Carnegie Hall. We celebrated the arts, provided many classes for the community, supported the homeless population and traveled the world with many service projects and relief efforts. Before serving in Manasquan, New Jersey, I served churches in Menlo Park, Thousand Oaks, California, and Seattle and Centralia, Washington.
I earned a doctorate from San Francisco Theological Seminary, a Master of Science from Columbia University in the City of New York, and a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. I did my undergraduate work at Seattle Pacific University in psychology and religion. I have certification in Executive and Organizational Coaching at New York University.
I have been on a variety of private and public boards and committees, including service as founding president of the Oaks School Board in Thousand Oaks, California, co-founder of the Samaritan Center of the Jersey Shore, commissioner to the Pensions Board of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), member of New Jersey State Board of Mental Health serving as a commissioner for Monmouth County, NJ, member of the Committee on Ministry in Monmouth Presbytery and chairman of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry in the Santa Barbara Presbytery. Throughout my career, I have led several major facility expansions and capital campaigns. I love supporting people as they seek to make a difference in the world for good and God.
Background
Much of who I am has its foundation in my childhood. I learned during my youth to readily adapt to new environments as my family traveled extensively with my father’s career in the United States military. My mother was a professional musician and gave my four sisters and me a love for music. I developed leadership experience in my school days through student government and many youth counseling experiences. I became committed to living a balanced life of service and leadership as an Eagle Scout. The principles of scouting still guide and inform me. I greatly appreciated the integration of faith and learning through attending a fine Christian school, Hawaii Baptist Academy. That is where I met Cindy. The picture above is with Cindy on her back porch in Hawaii after we started dating. We both went to Seattle Pacific University. Our outstanding educational experiences inspired our work in founding the non-profit that did initial work on the Oaks School.
My Family and Leisure
In 1980, Cindy and I married. Cindy's career spanned education, specializing in language acquisition development, curriculum design, and later in organizational and personal life coaching. She's an ordained Presbyterian elder and certified Spiritual Director with the Benedictines, sharing her insights through retreats, conferences, and spiritual formation for young people. Our four sons—Grant, married to Julia with three children; Blake, married to Shelley with two children; Lane; and Scott—have brought immense joy to our lives. I've relished coaching baseball and soccer over the years, alongside pursuing my own interests in swimming, biking, hiking, and travel.
