Grace in the Wilderness

My closest friends have rolled their eyes at me many times over the last few months as I’ve wistfully lingered in endings. I’ve been in an exciting period of newness over the last year, yet struck by how endings always accompany beginnings. I left a community and life I loved in New Haven, but I Read more

This past weekend, I was invited to preach at a little church tucked into the woods in North Florida. Old Philadelphia was originally built in 1828 as a meeting place for Presbyterians and congregationalists who moved to Gadsden County from Georgia and the Carolinas. The original church burned, and the one that stands today was Read more

People often ask how I combine my legal work and studies with ministry. A small number of people find this overlap obvious, but most are quite confused. Connection and love are at the heart of my call to ministry. Through hospital chaplaincy I was able to connect with people on the worst days of their Read more

Alongside living at Georgetown, I work full-time in a local prosecutor’s office coordinating a restorative justice program. Recently, I’ve been spending a significant amount of time thinking about identity formation. I’ve been tasked with working to change the office culture to be more restorative-minded instead of retributive. To do this, I’m finding ways to explore Read more

I’m working on a sermon that I will deliver in a few weeks for a very special occasion. Since I’m not based out of a church (I’m a “free range pastor” these days), my sermons reflect my personal faith and curiosities more than the needs of a particular community. There are certainly benefits and drawbacks Read more

One of my students died last week. When I accepted the offer to move onto the Georgetown campus as a Resident Minister I knew that the position was designed to support students through crisis. I knew that a student might die during my tenure, I just hoped it wouldn’t happen so soon. This tragic death Read more