Summary

I am a pastor, spiritual director, and theological educator committed to walking with people and communities toward a flourishing life with God. My ministry has taken shape in congregations, theological education, spiritual direction, and the wider church, but throughout those settings I have been drawn to the same work: helping people notice where God is already present and respond faithfully to that invitation.

I currently serve as Engagement Officer for Harding School of Theology, where my work includes church engagement, vocational discernment, spiritual formation, preaching, teaching, and supporting students preparing for ministry. Through Prayerful Companion, my spiritual direction practice, I accompany individuals and groups in prayer, discernment, and contemplative formation.

I also serve on the board of the Ekklesia Project, coordinate its weekly Thursday Evening Prayer, and regularly contribute reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary. Across these different expressions of ministry, I hope to help create spaces in which people can grow toward maturity in Christ, discover and use their gifts, and participate in what God is doing in and through the church.

Education

Harding University

Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MAOL)

I completed my Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership at Harding University in May 2026 through the executive coaching track, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. The program emphasized organizational culture, team development, conflict management, strategic leadership, and helping people and organizations flourish.

Lipscomb University

Spiritual Direction Training

In 2022, I completed two years of spiritual direction training through Lipscomb University’s Institute for Christian Spirituality and became a certified member of the Christ-centered Spiritual Directors Association. My formation in spiritual direction, particularly in the Ignatian tradition, continues to deeply shape the way I understand pastoral presence, discernment, and leadership.

Lipscomb University

Master of Divinity (M.DIv.)

I completed my Master of Divinity at Lipscomb University’s Hazelip School of Theology in 2020 with a 4.0 GPA. I was part of a twelve-student cohort built around learning in community and integrating theological study with congregational ministry.

Harding University

B.A.Youth and Family Ministry

I graduated with honors from Harding University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Youth and Family Ministry. My undergraduate years provided the theological and practical foundation for my work in congregational ministry and began shaping my understanding of ministry as a life of formation, service, and accompaniment.

Experience

Harding School of Theology. Searcy, Arkansas.

HST Engagement Officer, October 2025 - Current

Admissions Counselor, October 2023 - October 2025

I serve as Engagement Officer for Harding School of Theology, where my work sits at the intersection of theological education, vocational discernment, church engagement, and spiritual formation. I extend HST’s mission through relationships with churches and ministry leaders, recruitment and alumni engagement, and work that helps connect the school more deeply to the life of the church.

A significant part of my work is relational. I walk alongside prospective and current students as they discern theological education, ministry calling, and vocation. Rather than seeing recruitment simply as convincing someone to enroll, I try to create space for people to listen carefully to what God may be inviting them into and to determine whether theological education is part of that invitation.

I also contribute to the spiritual and theological life of the HST community through spiritual direction, contemplative formation, preaching, teaching, retreats, and chapel leadership. These opportunities allow my work in theological education to remain rooted in the formation of people rather than simply the administration of programs.

My time at HST has also included significant organizational transition. I served on the Academic Transition Team during the school’s relocation from Memphis to Searcy, helping navigate a major institutional change while preserving HST’s identity, relationships, and mission. That experience, together with my graduate work in organizational leadership, has deepened my interest in how healthy communities navigate change while remaining faithful to who they are called to be.

Prayerful Companion. Searcy, Arkansas.

Spiritual Director, May 2022 - Current

I founded Prayerful Companion as an independent spiritual direction practice rooted particularly in the wisdom and practices of Ignatian spirituality. Through one-on-one and group direction, I accompany people as they become more aware of God’s presence, notice the movements of consolation and desolation, attend to desire, and discern how God may be inviting them to respond.

Spiritual direction has taught me to trust that God is already present and active in a person’s life before I arrive. My work is therefore less about providing answers and more about creating prayerful space for listening, noticing, and discernment. This way of accompanying people has become deeply integrated into the way I understand pastoral care, leadership, teaching, and ministry more broadly.

Alongside individual direction, I lead contemplative retreats, guided prayer experiences, group spiritual direction, and formation workshops for churches and academic communities. I work with people both within and beyond vocational ministry, including pastors and ministry leaders seeking space to attend to their own life with God.

Through Harding University’s Oasis initiative, I lead an annual spiritual formation retreat for ministry leaders. The retreat creates space for pastors and leaders to care for their own spiritual lives through practices such as contemplative prayer, Lectio Divina, and group spiritual direction. I also equip participants with accessible forms of these practices that they can carry back into the life of their own congregations.

Prayerful Companion continues to shape my conviction that healthy ministry begins with presence: presence to God, presence to ourselves, and presence to the people and communities entrusted to our care.

The Ekklesia Project

Board Member, August 2026 - Current

My involvement with the Ekklesia Project began in 2023 and has grown into an important expression of my life in the wider church. I currently serve on the board, coordinate Thursday Evening Prayer, and regularly write theological reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary. As prayer coordinator, I help shape and regularly lead weekly liturgies centered on Scripture, prayer, and contemplative practice.

I also served on the planning committee for the 2026 Gathering, Sustaining Witness: Faithful Resistance in Troubled Times, and led Lectio Divina as part of the Gathering’s spiritual formation. The Ekklesia Project has given me a community in which pastors, theologians, and lay leaders from across Christian traditions can think seriously together about faithful Christian witness and the life of the church.

OP Church. Overland Park, Kansas.

Youth Minister, January 2020 - April 2021

I joined OP Church in the Kansas City metropolitan area just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. During a season of significant disruption, I helped lead student ministry through hybrid teaching, small groups, pastoral care, and creative responses to the needs of families affected by school closures.

An important part of our ministry was helping students understand and engage the life of Kansas City. Through service and theological reflection, we explored the city’s history of racial segregation and injustice, participated in conversations around racial reconciliation, and learned from churches and nonprofit organizations responding to needs throughout the city. During the pandemic, we also developed practical ways to support children and families affected by school closures and food insecurity.

I led much of the church’s transition into digital ministry during the pandemic shutdown, creating and managing online content, filming and editing videos, and overseeing the church’s YouTube presence. The experience required creativity and adaptability as we worked to maintain meaningful connection, teaching, and spiritual formation while gathering in person was limited.

Alongside my co-youth minister, I recruited and equipped a strong team of volunteers and emphasized relational ministry with students and families. One-on-one relationships, small groups, and shared leadership became especially important as we learned to minister faithfully across both online and in-person settings.

My time at OP Church ended in April 2021 after differences emerged around the philosophy and direction of youth ministry. Although the position was not ultimately the right long-term fit, the experience significantly shaped my understanding of pastoral leadership, adaptability, collaborative ministry, and the importance of clarity around a church’s vision and culture.

Sycamore View Church of Christ. Memphis, Tennessee.

Youth Ministry Apprentice, August 2018 - December 2019

While completing my Master of Divinity full time at Lipscomb University, I served at Sycamore View through a formal ministry apprenticeship integrated into my graduate theological education. The apprenticeship allowed my academic work and congregational ministry to inform one another while I served alongside and learned from experienced ministers in a large Memphis congregation.

Much of my work focused on helping students understand and serve their own city. Through Mission Memphis, we explored Memphis’s racial history, learned from churches with deep roots in the Civil Rights Movement, and considered the ongoing work of justice and reconciliation. I also developed relationships in Orange Mound while helping prepare for Memphis Work Camp, where volunteers served residents through home and property projects.

During this time, I also began a ministry among neighbors experiencing homelessness near the church. I spent time building relationships and listening before developing regular gatherings where students and families could share food, clothing, hospitality, and practical resources with our unhoused neighbors. That experience helped deepen my conviction that ministry begins with presence, relationship, and listening before it becomes programming.

Highland Hills Church of Christ. Tullahoma, Tennessee.

Youth and Family Minister, May 2016 - August 2018

I served as Highland Hills’ first full-time youth minister, developing and leading a growing student ministry and participating broadly in the pastoral life of the congregation. I developed a six-year scope and sequence for student and family theological education, preached monthly, helped lead worship and congregational teaching, and provided pastoral care to students and families.

I also managed the ministry budget and recruited, equipped, and led volunteer leaders. My years at Highland Hills gave me my first sustained experience serving on a church staff and helped form my understanding that healthy ministry depends upon shared leadership, strong relationships, theological depth, and the gifts of the whole congregation.

Internships.

Harding student

Summers of 12, 13, 14, and Fall 2014 - Spring 2015

While completing my undergraduate ministry degree at Harding University, I served in four youth ministry internships in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Jackson, Tennessee; and Searcy, Arkansas. These experiences gave me early exposure to congregations of different sizes and contexts and allowed me to participate in teaching, pastoral care, student formation, volunteer leadership, and the everyday rhythms of congregational ministry.

Together, these internships helped confirm my calling to ministry and prepared me for my first full-time pastoral role after graduation.