Education
Ph.D. Candiate/ABD | Concordia Seminary – Saint Louis, MO. | 2018-Present
MA | Michigan State University – East Lansing, MI. | Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures – Digital Rhetoric and Professional Writing | 2017
M.Div. | Concordia Seminary – Saint Louis, MO. | 2012
BA | Concordia University – Ann Arbor, MI. | English + Pre-Seminary Program | 2008
Experience
St. Luke Lutheran Church | Meridian Township and Lansing, MI. | Senior Pastor | 2012-Present
Relief Journal: A Christian Literary Expression | Managing Editor | 2013-2015
Books
Redeeming Technology: A Christian Approach to Healthy Digital Habits
Co-Authored with Dr. Brian Smith, MD | Concordia Publishing House (2021)
Clearly Christian: Following Jesus in this Age of Confusion
Concordia Publishing House (2018)
Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology Speaks to a Post-Modern World
Co-Authored with Dr. Gene Veith | Concordia Publishing House (2017)
Being Lutheran: Living in the Faith You Have Received
Concordia Publishing House (2016)
Why Should I Trust the Bible?
Concordia Publishing House (2016)
Book Chapters
Lutheranism 101 -3rd Edition | Conclusion Chapter
Concordia Publishing House (2021)
Luther’s Large Catechism with Annotations and Contemporary Applications | Excursus: Virtual Christianity
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Journal of Lutheran Ethics | October 2022 | Volume 22 Issue 5 | To be Online or Not to Be Online: Uncovering the Roots of the Debates Concerning Online Worship
Concordia Journal | Winter 2019 | Inclined to Boast: Social Media and Self-Justification
Featured on The Gospel Coalition (Social Media and the Snare of Self-Justification, February 2019)
Concordia Journal | Fall 2014 | Christ Coming to Us: Luther’s Rhetoric of Location
Grant Writing and Other Projects
Capital Region Community Foundation
Awarded $80,000 Grant for St. Luke Lutheran Church Community Kitchen (2017)
The New Jersey District – LCMS
Writer for Digital Catechism Grant Project in conjunction with Dr. Tony Cook & Dr. Charles Arand
Articles (Selected)
Duke Divinity School (March 2023) | Faith and Leadership | Hurting and Healing: What My Church did after a mass shooting
Christianity Today (April 2023) | In Times of Tragedy, I Find Solace in Scriptural Art
Religion & Liberty (October 2022) | Volume 32, Number 4 | Worship in the Metaverse
The Gospel Coalition (February 2022) | Bringing Common Sense to the Online Worship Debate
The Gospel Coalition (February 2020) | Tough Questions Don’t Deserve Trivial Answers
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (January 2020) | Kanye, Flame, and Augustine: Hip-Hop and the Conversion Narrative (Syndicated in Religion News Service)
The Conversation (January 2020) | Silicon Valley’s latest fade is dopamine fasting – and that may not be as crazy as it sounds (Syndicated in The Washington Post)
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (December 2019) | Dopamine Fasting: Silicon Valley’s Not-So-New Trend
Valparaiso University – The Cresset (Michaelmas 2019) | Liminal Links: Church in a Digital Age
The Gospel Coalition (October 2019) | The Reformation’s African Roots
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (July 2019) | Theologizing Virtual Reality
The Gospel Coalition (July 2019) | Three Ways Young Pastors Can Survive Ageism
The Gospel Coalition (June 2019) | Is Our Visual Age Making You Blind?
Duke Divinity School – Faith & Leadership (April 2019) | One-on-One Pastoral Accountability Groups
The Gospel Coalition (April 2019) \ What Luther Would Say to Silicon Valley
The Gospel Coalition (April 2019) \ The Brave New World of Bible Reading
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (February 2019) | Mr. Zuckerberg, Meet Mr. Luther
The Conversation (January 2019) | Three Ways to be Smart on Social Media | Syndicated via the Associated Press: San Francisco Chronicle
The Conversation (November 2018) | Why Twitter’s Heart-shaped ‘Like’ Button is Not so Harmless | Syndicated via the Associated Press: San Francisco Chronicle, Daily Mail (UK), and Salon.com
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (November 2018) | Twitter’s “Like” Problem
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (July 2018) | How Facebook is Transforming Religion
Duke Divinity School – Faith & Leadership (June 2018) | How a Small Congregation Changed a Larger One
The University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings (April 2018) | Social Media and Sin
Duke Divinity School – Faith & Leadership (September 2017) | Here’s What I have Learned from my Mentors
Duke Divinity School – Faith & Leadership (March 2017) | How Do You Keep Great Leaders
Duke Divinity School – Faith & Leadership (September 2016) | Don’t Wait Until You Need a Leader to Find One
Duke Divinity School – Faith & Leadership (September 2015) | Why Should We Care If Faith and Science Conflict?
Lutheran Quarterly (Winter 2014) | Review of Inviting Community
Valparaiso University – The Cresset (Advent 2014) | Mercy for the Least of These
Duke Divinity – Faith & Leadership (December 2014) | Running Out the Clock
Valparaiso University – The Cresset (Michaelmas 2013) | Saint Timothy: Patron Saint of Peach-Fuzzed Pastors
Valparaiso University – The Cresset (Advent 2011) | Seuss, Serapion, and Scripture
Relief Journal: A Christian Literary Expression (Vol. 3, Issue 1) | Modern Love: The Findings of a Sorority Chaplain
Teaching Experience
Lutheran Theological Seminary Tshwane (South Africa) | Digital Ecclesiology | Intensive Course (Summer 2023)
Concordia University – Ann Arbor | DH590 Technology, Faith and Culture | Digital Humanities Graduate Course (Fall 2022)
Concordia Seminary – St. Louis, Missouri | Teaching Assistant for SYS415 – Lutheran Confessions of Faith
Concordia Theological Seminary – Fort Wayne, Indiana | Teaching Apologetics in the Congregation (Winter 2017)
Camp Arcadia – Arcadia, Michigan | Faith and Science: Moving Beyond Debate (September 2017)
Interviews (Selected)
Organic Outreach Podcast | Episode #30 (January 2020)
Issues Etc. | The Internet as a Religious Experience (July 2019)
Issues Etc. | Reformation Insights into Social Media (February 2019)
Word & Work: An Intersection with Dr. Dale Meyer | Interview on Clearly Christian: Following Jesus in this Age of Confusion (November 2018)
Issues Etc. | Christians in an Age of Confusion (November 2018)
Issues Etc. | Social Media and Religion (August 2018)
Speaking (Selected)
Concordia University – Ann Arbor | Spring Commencement Address Speaker (May 2023)
Church Extension Fund | Keynote Speaker | The Modern Appian Way: Technology as an Outreach Tool (September 2021)
Michigan District – LCMS | All Pastors’ Conference Keynote Speaker (October 2019)
Texas District – LCMS | Circuit Visitors Conference (September 2019)
Ohio District – LCMS | Theological Convocation – Toledo (August 2019)
LCMS – National Youth Gathering | Breakout Speaker (July 2019)
Lutheran Prayer Breakfast – St. Louis, MO | Future of Lutheran Theology (October 2017)
South Dakota District – LCMS | Being Lutheran Today (August 2017)
Michigan District – LCMS | Re-Engaging Our Community (May 2017)
Wyoming District – LCMS | Evangelism Convocation – Why Are You Lutheran? (January 2017)
LCMS – National Youth Gathering | Faith & Science: Moving Beyond Debates / Going Green: Brief Trend or Biblical Truth? (July 2016)
Calvin College | Rhetorical & Theological Analysis of Evangelical Statement on Animals (September 2015)
Concordia Seminary | Theological Symposium – Luther’s Rhetoric of Location (September 2014)
University of Louisville – PhD in Humanities | Re: Conference – Early Christian Church Visual Rhetoric (March 2012)
Westminster College – Salt Lake City, UT | Generative Anthropology Summer Conference – Generative Scapegoat Mechanism (June 2010)
Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference | Generative Scapegoat Mechanism (April 2010)
Video Studies
FaithCourses – Clearly Christian | Concordia Publishing House (April 2019)
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod | Contributor to the “Every One His Witness” evangelism module on Scientism (2018)
FaithCourses – Authentic Christianity | Concordia Publishing House (2017)
FaithCourses – Being Lutheran | Concordia Publishing House (2016)