About

The few, the proud, the ministers. That was the title of the sermon that day. Heart pounding. Hands sweating. Knees shaking. I was a middle school student, standing in the front of a large auditorium at a gathering of teenagers, and Jesus was recruiting me for ministry. He put a life-altering dream in my heart to someday reach a city for God through church planting.

For the past 10 years I have been living out the dream that was born in my heart that day. In 2001, I had the privilege of leading a team from Central Bible College to start a new church just outside of Detroit. With God’s help, our church grew, lives were changed, and a second church was planted in a neighboring community.

Three years ago I met Leah Edwards, a dark-haired girl from Pittsburgh who took my breath away! We started meeting halfway, in Cleveland, on Fridays. On January 19, 2008 we were married, and today we have two beautiful daughters–Gabriella and Claire.

On September 29, 2009, God surprised us. While in two different parts of the country, God spoke to us individually about leaving our church to plant another church in one of the major cities of the United States. A few months later, after much prayer and research, it became clear that Philadelphia would be our new home.

Currently I am leading a team to start CityLife Church in South Philadelphia. The people of Philly have captured my heart, and I feel honored to have the opportunity to serve them.

I’m a pretty simple guy. I love Jesus, my family, and church planting–in that order. Beyond that, I love to read, golf, and follow the Pistons, Lions, Red Wings, Tigers, and my new teams in Philly.

My grandfather was also a church planter. One day I got to thinking how incredible it would be to logon to a website and read stories from my his blog. This blog is my hope that my grandkids will know what God has done in my life. Thanks for joining the journey!

Disclaimer: I’m thankful for the close partnership of Allison Park Church and the MCM Network as we seek to plant this new church in Philly, but they’re not responsible for anything strange I might write on this blog. The views expressed here are my most honest attempt to capture what God is doing in my life.