I am a pastor, theologian, and designer of communal spaces where people practice meaning, faith, and belonging together.
My work emerges from a simple conviction:
The church is not dying—we have forgotten how to be human together.

For much of my life, I was trained—like many leaders—to measure success by growth, attendance, and productivity. Over time, especially in local churches and rural communities, those measurements proved misleading. People were not starving for programs; they were starving for accompaniment. They were not leaving the church because they lacked belief, but because they lacked places of hospitality, play, and rest.

That realization reshaped my vocation as I accepted a call to ordination.

A Pilgrim Way of Working

I work from what I call a pilgrim ecclesiology. The church is not a destination or a spectacle. It is a stable rest stop—a place of hospitality for pilgrims, strangers, and the quietly weary. This theological imagination is grounded in:

• The biblical law of hospitality
• The Christian tradition’s attention to exile, pilgrimage, and place
• A resistance to decline narratives that reduce vitality to numbers

I am especially interested in how churches and communities can function as third places: shared, non-transactional spaces where people encounter one another as persons rather than roles.

Why Play Matters

Much of my practical work unfolds through storytelling and whimsy.

Play is not an escape from seriousness—it is a disciplined way of practicing trust, imagination, and mutual care. Church should be a space in which people rehearse courage, confront fear, and learn to belong without pretense. I design and facilitate spaces as a formative, pastoral practice.

Through play, theology becomes embodied and shared rather than abstract and imposed.

What I Do (In Practice)

Depending on context, my work takes the form of:

• Writing and teaching on ecclesiology, hospitality, and communal vitality
• Designing and facilitating play-based formation spaces
• Leading retreats and workshops for churches and leaders
• Building scalable, low-budget models for small and rural communities

These are not separate projects. They are expressions of a single ecology—each informing and sustaining the others.

An Invitation

If you are tired of churches that feel like businesses,
If you are suspicious of spectacle but still curious about faith,
If you believe community can be rebuilt through care, creativity, and courage— You belong here.

Pull up a chair.
Come play.
Walk with us for a while.