I was born in a tiny farm town called Freestone, California. Freestone is way up in Northern California, near all of those famous vineyards. Even after all of the different places that I’ve lived since then, I think that spending the first decade of my life as a farm kid is still an essential part of who I am. Farm communities are tight-knit, and I was taught from the very beginning to always look out for the people around me and take care of the Earth on which we live. These values formed the foundation of my Unitarian Universalist faith and they are still important to me.
I spent my teenage and young adult years living in the Boston area, and attended college in Western Massachusetts. My time in Boston was largely responsible for my taste for strong coffee and my love for loud music and the Boston Red Sox. After college, I returned to Boston and spent a few years as a slam poet and arts organizer. Over the course of my slam poetry career I participated in six National Poetry Slams, competed in two National Underground Poetry Invitational Championships and published two volumes of poems (both of which are blessedly out of print). After a few years performing and touring as a slam poet, I decided to go to seminary and pursue ordained Unitarian Universalist ministry.
I started at Andover Newton Theological School in the fall of 2012 and graduated in 2016 with a Master's of Divinity and a Master's of Arts in Global Interreligious Leadership. During and after my time at Andover Newton I worked doing Youth and Outreach coordination at our Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Wayland, Massachusetts. While at Andover Newton I also met my brilliant, hilarious and supportive wife, The Rev. Sandra Summers, who is a minister in the Congregationalist tradition. In August 2017 I began serving as the minister for The First Unitarian Church of Memphis, Tennessee, also known as The Church of the River. I love serving such a vibrant, historic congregation, and I would love to meet you on a Sunday morning. Check out our congregation’s website, to learn more about us! Memphis is a beautiful and complex city, and I am blessed to do my ministry here. In October 0f 2020 Sandra and I welcomed our first child, our son Gideon, into the world. Our daughter, Juniper, was born in April of 2024. As a family, we love checking out new restaurants, cafes, and dusty bookstores. We also love hanging out with our Jack Russell Terrier, Tommy.