Elder Nominee

I grew up with parents who were devoted followers of Jesus, but we were inconsistent churchgoers. As I got older, I drifted from faith and focused instead on sports, academics, and achievement. By my junior year of high school, I felt overwhelmed by responsibility and expectation, and spiritually lost.  At the invitation of a local coach, I attended an FCA camp where I heard the Gospel clearly presented.  The words of 1 Corinthians 15:57 — “But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” — struck me like fresh water to my soul.  I surrendered my life to Jesus then and there!

Afterward, I began attending a church that was warm, active, and welcoming, though it avoided harder teachings on sin and repentance. I experienced real joy and peace through Christ, but my life changed only gradually. College is where God really started to work on me.  At the University of Richmond, my faith deepened significantly in close fellowship with believers on campus and in a great local church.  There, I grew in communion with Jesus and in my love for God’s Word and His people.

My wife, Meg, and I met at Richmond. After each spending time overseas following graduation, we moved to the DC area and married in 2002.  Living in North Arlington, we began attending MBC—first Frontline, then the Edge Community on Sunday mornings. We formed strong friendships, and led a young couples’ small group from 2002–2007.

As friends moved away and we started graduate school, we struggled to find new community. At the same time, we walked through a difficult season of infertility, ultimately adopting our two boys from overseas in 2015, who were then six and nine years old.  A difficult season was capped with deep joy of becoming parents!  However, because we had found it so hard to access meaningful community or support at MBC, we spent a few years at another church where we found support and care in an adoption and foster care ministry before moving to Maryland in 2016.

Although hesitant at first, we quickly came to call MBC Montgomery County our home. We found a community committed to walking with us, encouraging us to become more like Jesus.  Because of our own past experiences, we continue to have a deep sensitivity toward those who feel unseen or disconnected in church. With that heart, our family has served at MBC MoCo in various ways since 2017. Meg and I led a church group from 2019–2024, a community that grew together in faith and supported one another through both joy and deep suffering.  In 2021, I began serving as a Lay Pastor, working alongside our pastoral team to teach classes, address ministry challenges, and offer spiritual counsel and care.

Beyond family, church, and my work as a lawyer for a real estate developer, I enjoy cooking on the grill or smoker, being outdoors (hiking, yardwork, or searching for the best tacos), and learning through good books and podcasts.