A Journey of Faith

I spent the first 13 years of my life in the wonderful state of Minnesota. It was here that I was raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) tradition. My Irish dad came from a Pentecostal background and my Swedish/Norwegian mother from the ELCA. Most of my early Christian formation can be tied to Mount Olivet Lutheran Church and the bible lessons that I got from my parents. The Christian faith was a focal point in my raising and while I stubbornly learned my lessons I also became very inquisitive about the faith of my friends. Some were Christian like me but Catholic, Presbyterian, or Methodist. Others were Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu. Through conversations with my classmates I began to see overlapping themes but I always felt at home in my faith. Although I had finished confirmation I was not done with my faith journey.

Halfway through my 8th grade year my family moved to Massachusetts. It was quite the culture shock in moving from Minnesota to Massachusetts. The way people acted towards one another, the way they communicated, and the diversity of faith and ethnicity was quite shocking. The small south shore is often known as the Irish Riviera. It is one of the largest concentrations of Irish people outside of Ireland and it shows. Marshfield is a wonderful town that has a larger population in the summer than the winter but the people there are genuine. It was here that I joined The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) to continue my Christian education. Christ Lutheran Church in Scituate MA was the next stop. I took confirmation again, helped out as an acolyte, and aided in getting older members to coffee hour after service. One year I was Elmo for the block party, and my faith took on a questioning perspective as I sought to understand the differences between the ELCA and LCMS. After two years with Christ Lutheran Church the Spirit called my family to a new venture.

A young pastor from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus Ohio had started a mission congregation in Starbucks. My mom had gone to hear him preach one Sunday evening and invited him to host the services on our back deck in the summer and in our living room in the winter. So we returned to the ELCA and I began to learn in the shadow of my new pastor. I witnessed the merger of an ELCA start up and an aged United Methodist Church (UMC) become a new community hub of faith and formation. If I wasn’t at drama club or at my job I was likely working at the church or throwing darts with my pastor. I enjoyed the conversations that we had and how he pushed my ideas of faith and worship to be more inclusive and accepting of those that are around me.

As I began to look at universities I chose them based on what job I wished to have after I had finished. I eventually settled on LEnoir Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. A good ELCA affiliated university that would give me the tools I needed to become a Youth Pastor. I studied harder than I ever had before and graduated with BA in Youth and Family Ministries. However the Lord wasn’t done with
me yet. In my senior year I felt a strong call to ministry but not just youth ministry, I felt the call to be a pastor. After having conversations with my home pastor and being affirmed by my home congregation the process began.

After two years of intensive theological education at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, before it merged with Capital University, while working as a seminary intern at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Columbus Ohio, I went onto two years of a Vicarage while taking online courses at St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Urbandale Iowa. St. Stephen is a lively congregation that is ideal for seminarians to learn and grow. I had some amazing first hand experiences that formed me beyond my initial understanding of what I could learn in the parish and I had an amazing supervisor that pushed me to learn and grow in new ways.

In my last months of seminary I took a J-term course at Pine Ridge Reservation in ‘20. It was a truly eye opening experience of faith and history while we listened to elders and how the Spirit is moving in all places. It was on this trip that I connected with Brother Ian, a member of the Order of Lutheran Franciscans (OLF). I never knew about a mendicant order within the ELCA tradition and so I prayed with him the daily offices everyday which helped to center me and renew me throughout my days at Pine Ridge. When I got back to Iowa I had thought little about the OLF outside of the humorous joke of one day being Friar Tuck. It wasn’t until later that I would begin thinking more seriously about my spiritual journey and how I wished to reform my faith.

I then graduated with a Masters Degree in Divinity and received endorsement from my home Synod of New England. I took my first call at Grace Lutheran Church in Knoxville IL. I had never lived in a rural area before and it was while I was working at this congregation that I began deep diving into what it means to be a Franciscan in the ELCA. I read books and watched movies about Saints Francis and Clare, I had conversations and went to annual chapter with the OLF. It was through all of these interactions that I began to feel a replenishing of my soul, a revitalization of what it means to be Christian. I met my wife through the popular app TikTok! I got to know her wonderful boys Harper and Niko and in 2022 she and I got married which means I was blessed with the amazing gift of being a father figure for two amazing young men. 2023 was a busy summer with moving to Ohio for a new call at First Lutheran Church, getting ourselves ready for the birth of our daughter Lunabella in January of 2024, and in the summer of 2023 I publicly professed vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. I affirmed vows to help all of creation, to do my part and care for God’s people, and to follow in the simple way of Francis and Clare of Assisi. With that, and a yearly vow renewal, I began my long journey in the Novitiate of the Order of Lutheran Franciscans.

I have been blessed by God to have had the opportunity to learn and grow in my faith in so many different states and regions of the United States. I have been blessed by God to have had so many amazing churches that have supported me, guided me, nurtured me, and taught me invaluable lessons over the years. I pray that I hold their unique experiences in my heart and mind always so I never make the same mistakes twice and always repeat the love of Christ that was shown through them to all those around me.