My Professions
Through both my personal and my professional worlds, I try to embody my convictions about the power of God's liberation to heal our broken and breaking world. This is the profession I bring into my work, my projects, and my passions.
See RG CreativeWriter & Theologian
Sharing stories, poetry, and personal reflections through the lens of my lifelong passion and training in Christian theology.
Designer & Developer
Creating meaningful brand identities and websites for churches and other missional organizations.
Digital Marketer
Building connected digital marketing systems across web, social, email, podcasts, mobile apps, and more.
I don't deserve the incredible family I have, but I'm grateful for them every day.
my family
My wife, Shannon, is a pastor in the United Methodist Church, a two-time seminarian, and just an absolutely amazing person. A gifted writer, teacher, and speaker, she has a heart for discipleship and for empowering people to know the love and grace of God.
We have two dogs, Oscar (the elder, the prince) and Jack (the younger, the gremlin). They are agents of chaos in our lives, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
We grew up in St. Louis, but are proud residents of Kansas City now. During baseball season, though, we root for the Cardinals over the Royals every time.
biography
A Timeline of My Life & Growth
No one asked for this much detail about me, but I've been on quite a journey in my life. If you've read this deep into my website, you may be looking to understand more about why I am the way I am.
- Winter 1987
Born into a Christian Household
I was born into a devout Christian household in the Washington, D.C., area, the second of four children and the only son. My father was an officer in the Air Force, and my mother was able to be a full-time mother for us children. My grandfather had long been a Southern Baptist pastor, and the faith heritage passed from my grandparents through my parents to me was formative from the very beginning.
- Summer 1993
Claimed Christianity for myself
When I was five years old, I claimed my faith for myself for the first time. Although I was undoubtedly motivated as much by fear of hell as I was by anything else, my belief and commitment were real. My father and I knelt beside the sofa in our living room and he led me in a sinner's prayer of repentance. In these childhood years, my family and the churches I was a part of developed in me a deep and enduring love of Scripture.
- Summer 2000
Moved to St. Louis
Before my 7th Grade year in school, my father was transferred to St. Louis, MO, so our family moved to Ferguson, a suburb of the city, and we were enrolled in a Christian school there associated with the Church of the Nazarene. This was where I met Shannon, a girl in my class whose wild Irish enthusiasm terrified me and my militaristic need for structure.
- Fall 2005
Began dating Shannon
The fall of our senior year of high school, Shannon and I began dating. She had been called by God as a middle schooler to pursue a vocation in pastoral ministry. Although she was expressing this as a call to youth ministry for now, we both knew it was possible that could expand to higher levels of pastoral ministry which, in my Southern Baptist belief system, were not permissible for women to hold.
- Fall 2006
Moved to Kansas City for College
I enrolled at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, which was my first exposure to public education. Shannon attended the Nazarene university in the Kansas City suburbs, and we were able to continue our relationship.
- Summer 2009
Married a Pastor in Training
Shannon and I married as we were finishing our undergraduate degrees, and I resolved my cognitive dissonance around her call to ministry by committing to listening to God's lead in my life. I knew God was calling me to this woman, so if God wanted her to be a pastor, then I believed God would convince me of it, too.
- Winter 2013
Moved to Oklahoma
We moved to Enid, OK, for a youth ministry position for Shannon while she completed her first seminary degree. This small town had a market opportunity for me as a digital marketing professional, so I officially opened my web design and development studio with the goal of using my skillset to support churches and other missional organizations.
- Summer 2014
Confronted with Racism in my communities
Just a couple miles from the home in Ferguson where I'd grown up, Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer. Racial tensions had been simmering there for a long time, and I knew from my friends in high school that police often targeted people of color.
I was surprised, though, by the sudden explosion of activism in my hometown and by the apathy of many of the Christians all around me. For Shannon and me, this was deeply personal. It was during this period that I began and writing with fresh zeal, because it was the only way I knew to express the turmoil I felt.
- Summer 2015
Returned to Kansas City
We longed to return to Kansas City, and an opportunity arose for me to join the staff of a large United Methodist Church there as their digital marketing lead. Shannon had just been ordained into the Church of the Nazarene, but she was unable to find any Nazarene churches that would hire her, so she took a position working for the denominational headquarters.
In Kansas City, we found a community that encouraged us to continue wrestling with the expressions of racism, nationalism, and other forms of bigotry that we increasingly recognized in the faith communities in which we'd been raised. As I explored the assumptions of my faith, examining Scripture and my interpretations of it, I found myself changing many of my foundational beliefs, including my understanding of women in ministry. My faith shifted from being rooted in fear to being rooted in grace and compassion.
- Fall 2016
Published my first short book
I self-published Whispers of a Stronger Faith, my first collection of poems and short stories. I'd previously posted many of these stories on my blog, and although few of them were explicitly religious, they demonstrated the journey of exploration I had begun.
- Winter 2017
Began seminary
With the encouragement of the church where I continued to work, I entered seminary at Central Baptist Theological Seminary. The diverse group of professors and fellow students there further challenged my shifting theological views. They helped me understand that it was not enough to simply welcome and love everyone, but that the gospel of Christ actually called me to actively look for and liberate the oppressed in my communities.
- Fall 2018
Wrote my thesis on digital communities
As I concluded my seminary degree, I wrote my thesis on comparing the Apostle Paul's use of letters as a tool for cultivating Christian community in Corinth to the use of social media to cultivate Christian community in our world today.
- Spring 2020
Became foster parents
After years of consideration and months of training and preparation, Shannon and I became foster parents to a precious five-year-old girl. Three days later, the world shut down in an effort to contain COVID-19.
There were a lot of firsts for us to navigate: parenting, the foster care system, preschool (and then kindergarten), all within the context of a pandemic world that was also adding stress to our professional lives.
The eight months we spent as foster parents were by far the most difficult of our lives, and they culminated in the most difficult decision we've ever had to make. By November, the strain of it all was taking such a toll on our marriage that we had to request a new foster placement for the little girl in our care.
- 2021+
Finding healing and stability
For the last couple years, we have spent a lot of time healing from our traumas. Some of that trauma stemmed from the pandemic experiences we all shared, but I have also uncovered other traumas from my life that I had buried deeped inside me. Shannon and I have both pursued changes in our careers, which for her has involved becoming a senior pastor and returning to seminary as she pursues ordination as an elder in the United Methodist Church.
I'm excited to find out what tomorrow brings.