Hello First Congregational UCC of Sioux City!  I’m looking forward to getting to know each of you.  I’ve been in ministry since my seminary days in Boston in the ‘80s, and feel blessed to pastor to people’s hearts, encourage their souls, inspire their minds, nurture their activism, and lift their spirits.  I’ve always sought to better our world and help bless relationships between people and with creation.  I’m devoted to mission and outreach, education, and to the building of understanding between a diversity of people, and to nurturing and sustaining a healthy, just, peaceable, and loving community.  I’m hoping we can work together on that mutual journey. 

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I’ve served ecumenically in the United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Presbyterian Church (USA).  I’ve ministered in UCC churches across the country since 2000.  I come from a family of pastors, and see pastoral and prophetic ministry as engrained in me.  While there may be differences of opinion and belief between congregants with little unanimity, I try to create an ethos of unity in Spirit and behavior where we all listen, speak, and act respectfully towards one another in Christian love and community.  I enjoy getting to know people, and hearing their stories.  We are all more alike than we are different.  Wouldn’t you agree?

I’m committed to a caring, thought-provoking, inclusive, nonhierarchical, values-based worship that is welcoming to outsiders, as well as insiders, of faith; and that builds a camaraderie of character development where our actions and practices reflect our common core values.  I enjoy creating sacred fellowship time that includes different preaching styles, interactive opportunities, and a variety of liturgies and messages that both inspires and motivates.  Not only will I ask for prayer requests, joys, and concerns, but I will ask us to share stories of compassion and kindness to help kindle our own loving works in our daily world.  I will also ask you to share your talents, passion for beauty, and other skills in ways that will bless us all. 

My wife, Caroline Brock (a sociology professor at the University of Missouri) and I have been married for almost 10 years – most of which we have lived at a distance, but making it work out and enjoying our time together.  We enjoy hiking, biking, canoeing, music, ethnic festivals, art, historical parks, farmer’s markets, and other outdoor and cultural activities.    

I preach and teach from a progressive and pluralistic perspective, having found truth from many religious and philosophical sources. Challenging people to creatively think outside their conceptual frameworks, and to help them extend their compassion to all creation, are important to my ministerial vocation.  I emphasize social and environmental justice, nonviolence, virtue ethics, attitudinal psychology and character counseling, spiritually-based communications, cross-cultural and interreligious cooperation, progressive Christianity, mytho-poetic scriptural understanding, and the egalitarian vision of Jesus where there is a synergy of justice, love, and peace.  I’ve led workshops denominationally on some of these topics.  

I attended the University of Indianapolis where I studied with Robert McCauley, Adolf Hansen, Herbert Cassell, Perry Kee, Phyllis Lan Lin, et al.  I went to seminary at Boston University School of Theology, where I studied under Harrell Beck, Walter Muelder, Peter Berger, Elie Wiesel (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate), Ralph Potter, et al.  At the University of Wisconsin, I studied under Lester Hunt, Mohammad Umar Memon, Minoru Kiyota, Geshe Lhundub Sopa (a teacher of the Dalai Lama), et al.  

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I have a deep love and appreciation for the beauty of the world and diversity of cultures.  I love to travel and explore., and enjoy doing photography in the places I’ve been.  Among the places I’ve traveled are all 50 states, Canada, Dominica, Thailand, Germany, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Belgium, New Zealand, South Korea, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico.  In all places, I’ve observed that we all want the same basic necessities of life:  physically, socially, and spiritually.

I love to write pieces that spark the mind, edify the soul, encourage the spirit, and inspire the heart.  Writing is one of my creative outlets and life passions – whether it be verse or prose.  I’ve written many hymn lyrics to familiar tunes.  Preaching, teaching, and writing help me to deepen and broaden my own faith, with the hopes that these shared contributions will help nurture collective wisdom and build communities of trust and sustenance.  

I cherish facilitating spiritual growth in small groups or book studies, and in counseling individuals, couples, and families. I strive to be a conscientious listener and suggestive advisor, nurturing people to discover their talents and loves of life, to develop them at their own pace, and to generously share their gifts with others.   I seek to nourish collaborative relationships and values-enhancement; inviting people to join in a mutually edifying spiritual journey. 

I have served churches of all sizes and seek to create faith families that are committed to love, peace, justice, and equality, are welcoming and loving of all persons in practice and attitude and have the desire to increase their spiritual understanding of other religions and cultures in mutual efforts of making a better world. 

Alongside pastoral ministry, I have served as lecturer of philosophy, campus minister, hospice chaplain, TV interviewer & reporter of religious news, environmental educator, family service counselor, direct support provider, and other positions that have informed and extended my ministry.   

I am an avid outdoorsman and environmentalist. I love sports and outdoor adventures of all sorts.  Hiking, biking, canoeing/kayaking, tennis, skiing, and camping are among my favorite activities.  I love to explore the beauties of nature, cultivate respect and reverence for all living things, and share the joys and solaces of sacred places with others.  

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I especially enjoy the performing and visual arts, museums, and events that promote cross-cultural understanding.  Humor and laughter are spiritual disciplines I seek to cultivate with others.  I cherish hearing heartfelt stories from others in talking about what challenges, experiences, and relationships have positively impacted their lives and have led to their own empowerment in being true to who they trust God has called them to be.  I enjoy being in relationships that encourage and nurture one another to be our best selves, and help us to better serve our communities and world.  This is me – heart and soul.  I hope to get to know you – heart and soul.