"How Should I Introduce You?"

I get this question a lot now. It used to be such an easy answer.

After spending more than two decades in full-time church ministry, I've spent the last few years charting a new course. Previously, I served as a Lead Pastor of a megachurch and attained a Master's degree in theology. This role allowed me to lead more than forty staff members, oversee multimillion-dollar budgets, and speak in front of thousands of people each weekend. 

Within the church environment these days I do guest speaking and I teach classes as an adjunct professor at a Christian university. Most of my professional training and experience is in the 'institutional church' environment. For the majority of my career I've been called Pastor.

But I've felt increasingly uneasy with the dominant culture around Christianity these days, especially in America. How do we learn to ask better questions and follow a God that looks like Jesus? In order to pursue this moving forward I've changed things up a bit.

Outside of the church environment, I manage our short rental homes (see: JStays). This allows me to spend time talking to people about Jesus over a glass of wine through (see: Communion Wine Co). As I've explored this new arena I've been able to attain different wine credentials such as WSET 2 and Oregon Wine Expert. 

My work in this new industry has also turned into a biweekly podcast as I explore Christianity through the beauty of wine (see: Cabernet and Pray). These types of opportunities provide me with experience in what is referred to as the 'deconstructing community.'

Between both the institutional church and the deconstructing community I think we can find hope and encouragement for a better way forward. That's why most people today know me as "The Wine Pastor."