About
The Overview
How do I live as a husband, father, brother, pastor, teacher, friend, and follower of Jesus all at the same time?
This is a question that I wrestle with every day of my life. I wonder how to do it, and how others do it. I want to know how people come to Jesus and how they integrate their lives with their discipleship.
I also wonder how to do it while managing my own failures, faults, and quirks. I want to do it all; be a pastor, teacher, woodworker, engineer, consultant, finance person, and so much more. ADHD and depression are my constant companions, whether I like it or not. (I'm not sure which...)
But that's not the full story. I'm also curious about leadership in church spaces. What makes some churches tick while others flounder? Why are some vibrant and life-giving and some are toxic and soul-sucking? This curiosity has led me on a quest to help churches be healthy and life-giving.
Hello.
My name is James
I grew up in the church in rural-ish New Castle, Pennsylvania. I've been an insurance salesman, a grocery store manager, a data entry clerk, and a teacher. Since 2015, I've been a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), facing the challenges of a declining church, a global pandemic, and all that goes with those things. Longer than anything else, I've been a husband and a father of two. Since 2022, I've pastored a church in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
I grew up in a home of teachers who valued education, so I have a BA in English (Baldwin-Wallace College), an MDiv (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), and am working on a DMin in adaptive leadership (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary).
Over the course of my education, I've familiarized myself with MBTI, Clifton StrengthsFinder, Working Genius, and APEST. I'm currently working on a model of organizational learning to make adaptive learning more understandable. I'm not scared of failure, and I've come to see difficulty as opportunity.
My wife, Katie, and I love to take on various projects, so you might see woodworking and quilting alongside coaching in the store. Don't be frightened. It's just what happens when you live in a family where every member has ADHD, making the English Pointers in the house the most neurotypical members of the family.
