I am honored and excited to accept the nomination to the position of Vice President.
A bit of background on me. I was raised in a Swedenborgian family and have been involved with the Swedenborgian Church for my entire life. I attended Sunday School at the Detroit church that moved to Royal Oak when I was a teenager. I attended Almont summer camp every year. I loved Almont and when I became a teenager I loved attending youth retreats. I was fascinated by Swedenborg and as an adolescent I loved talking about theology with my mother, Joyce. Like Swedenborg, I also enjoyed the sciences and engineering. I graduated from Wayne State University with a BS in Chemical Engineering and worked as a bench chemist, department director, and quality engineer into my forties. While I never went on a personal quest to find the seat of the human soul, I did continue my study of Swedenborgian theology and spirituality while working as an engineer. I was involved in launching and leading the young adult group known as Transitions in the 1990s and early 2000s. I was also a board member of the Almont New Church Assembly and served as president for a partial term.
I continued working as a church youth leader volunteer at camps and retreats throughout my adult life and discovered that youth work was my true passion and calling. So, I left my career in chemical engineering to become the Youth Director for the Swedenborgian Church in 2001. Now in my twenty-second year serving the youth of the church, I still love working with teens, pre-teens, and young adults at retreats and summer camps.
I have greatly enjoyed my work as vice president over the past year and think that I have made some important contributions to the denomination. As we all continue to learn and grow with our new President, Jim Lawrence, I aim to strive for excellence and steady reliability within your representative elected Executive Committee and General Council bodies. If elected to serve as your vice president in the coming year, I look forward to continuing to provide a youthful perspective to the organization while honoring the heritage and foundational principles of our beloved faith community. I live in Maine with my fabulous wife, Shelley—whom I met at a youth retreat—and my two wonderful daughters, Ava and Zsa Zsa.