I love good stories, especially stories that promote hope—which is why I am drawn to both

preaching and theatre. I cannot remember not loving preaching or wanting to spend my life doing it. My love for theatre began to develop in high school through youth group puppet shows and skits, as well as taking a theatre class my senior year. While I was studying to be a preacher in college, I founded a traveling theatre troupe. Then, after completing two graduate degrees in theology and preaching for several years, and while I was working on my doctorate in preaching, I returned to my sanctuary and started performing again. Now, I mostly teach and write on the intersection of preaching and theatre. However, I am always up for a fun voice-over project. Maybe I will return to the stage again…someday. What binds these two loves together is a good story. And the Bible contains the best ever told, a story the deserves to be told the in the best ways possible.

My wife Rachael loves to travel and is an artist. My children are both studying theatre in college, with my son studying the technical side of theatre and my daughter studying the performing side of theatre. While my kids and I have worked on a handful of productions together, my favorite theatre memory was sharing the stage with them as Teddy Roosevelt in Disney’s Newsies. Not only should good stories be told, they should be told to and with those you love.