Roots

I lived my first eighteen years in Olathe, KS. Through those years, science, reading, and creative expression were my primary passions, and unkempt piles of Legos and Lincoln Logs abounded. When I was eleven, my grandparents invited me to their church. But my faith became personal when I was thirteen and heard the story of Jesus calling Peter in Luke 5. Right then, I felt Jesus was calling me, and, moved by his desire for me, nothing was ever the same.

I began attending church and going on mission trips to pursue the presence of the One who loved me, and I was baptized. Through seeking Jesus, I found new layers in his call to discipleship. I shared that God was calling me to be a minister at sixteen. Afterward, I pushed myself at school to open doors, served at church, and studied scripture. I also came to accept I was gay, and my church did not ordain gay people. Through high school and undergrad, I thrived academically but I struggled at church, where they worked to change me. But Jesus remained my polestar, and he helped me find a way.

Reinvention

After undergrad, I wanted to grow and explore. So, I worked in web development, served at a men’s recovery home, and reflected on my theology and calling. During that time, I applied to seminaries, and as I discerned I felt called to a deeper and broader tradition. Conversely,I saw the Christian teaching against LGBTQ+ people was causing harm to me and my peers. After a season of prayer and study, I realized I needed to broaden my vision of the truth that humans are made in God’s image. Although it led to a painful separation from the churches I had known, it opened the possibility of a broader and deeper fellowship with the whole family of God and of bringing all of me to Jesus’s call to follow.

I began my studies at Princeton Theological Seminary at twenty-three and was confirmed in the Episcopal Church. During that time, the rhythm of the daily office and the tangible grace of baptism and eucharist helped mend where religion had hurt me and made God’s love the melody of my life. In 2020 I moved my discernment to my Episcopal parish in New Jersey. When I finished my MDiv at Princeton I went to Virginia Theological Seminary for Anglican Studies. There, I was made a postulant for the priesthood.

Re-formation

After Virginia Theological Seminary, I looked to deepen my formation. I completed a clinical pastoral education residency at the University of Kansas Hospital and became invested in a local parish. As a chaplain, I was a cartographer mapping the human soul, while at church I found joy communicating God’s love and beauty in the pulpit and one-on-one. After finishing my residency, I became a home hospice chaplain for people across northeast Kansas, and I became a candidate for priesthood on 19 April. Since then, I have been discerning my next step toward Jesus’s call to follow.