Faith Staff
MY Story
I have lived in St. Louis my entire life (excluding military service). I grew up in South City, and have lived in Oakville since 2004. My wife, Mary, and I have been married since 2003, and we have 2 children, Toby and Abby. My hobbies are varied, but I am particularly good at neglecting my house, annoying my teenagers, and eating out. Other things that I also enjoy, but am not necessarily good at, include reading/writing, volunteering as a St. Louis County police chaplain, and loving my wife.
My road to the ministry here at Faith has been a winding one. Thinking that I may want to be a pastor someday, I first visited the seminary during high school… and then visited again right before we were married… and then again 6 years later… and lastly in 2012 when my family and I finally decided to take the leap of faith. I was finally ordained in May 2016 after 4 years of seminary studies. During the 21 years between high school and seminary, I served in the military for 8 years, obtained a BS in Computer Science, earned my MBA, and worked in IT Finance and Asset Management at Anheuser-Busch InBev for 13 years.
While I never heard God speak to me audibly, there were a couple of pivotal moments during those 20+ years when I heard His Word clearly. The first time I truly understood the Gospel was when a pastor said to me that he was certain that he was going to heaven. I was wondering how could he be so arrogant. How could he be so confident in his own goodness that he could be certain that he was going to heaven? That’s when I got it. His confidence was not in himself… it was in Christ. That was a game-changer for me. After that I began to see that God could use me, even me, to further His Kingdom… me, someone who has to fight a love of money, someone who does not enjoy debating religion, someone who has done many things of which he is ashamed. Yup, it turns out that God had a plan for me in His church, in this church, Faith Lutheran Church in Oakville, MO… and He has a plan for you too.
Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit about me. I hope to meet you someday and hear a little bit of your story.