Ramblings from Red Rose

I grew up in South Carolina, a lifelong Christian in the United Methodist tradition. After 5 years of banking, I followed the call to ordained ministry. I spent three fantastic years at The Divinity School at Duke University. Upon graduating in 2004, my wife, April, and I came to Lancashire, England, to spend a year in circuit ministry in the British Methodist Church. One year turned to two, and now we are still here. I serve as a presbyter (minister) for three churches in the Blackburn Circuit: Langho, Mellor, and Wilpshire Methodist Churches. All three are in the beautiful Ribble Valley, on the outskirts of the cathedral town of Blackburn.

In the summer of 2006, I transferred out of the United Methodist Church and into the British Conference. In July 2007, in Blackburn Cathedral, I was ordained by the Methodist President Martyn Atkins and the Revd. Jen Harner Sims of Florida. In 2007, April and I welcomed our daughter to our family. She adds to our life in many ways, and is fast finding her way as a British-born baby with American parents living in a Methodist Manse. It makes for an interesting combination!

I love to teach, and especially have enjoyed introducing the Disciple Bible Study Course to my circuit. My major influences are Richard B. Hays, N.T. (Tom) Wright, Lesslie Newbiggin, and my dad and mom (OK, they’re not academic theologians, but they raised me in a Christian home). In our spare time we love to travel around the area, follow Duke basketball and Alabama football (we have not been able to understand cricket or follow English football yet), watch Scrubs on E4, and find ways of navigating our American heritage with our adopted British culture.I have an old blog at Blogger.com, which is still available.

As a disclaimer, the views expressed here are my own. I do not speak for The Methodist Church of Great Britain, the North Lancashire District, the Blackburn Circuit, or even for any of my three churches.