OUR PASTOR

I’ve been the pastor at Cornerstone UMC since July 2017.  I graduated with my Master of Divinity (Mdiv) from Asbury Theological Seminary (distance learning) in August 2022.  I’m a second-career   pastor with a background in golf course management on the maintenance side.  I graduated with a B.S. in “Turfgrass Management” from the University of Minnesota Crookston in December 2006.  I worked in a management position at a country club in St. Paul, MN, and destination golf courses such as Giant Ridge Golf and Ski Resort, and The Jewel Golf Club in Lake City MN.    

I moved to Lake City for the position of “Assistant Golf Course Superintendent” in August 2008.  I wouldn’t have called myself a Christian at the time, but I was searching for more meaningful relationships and community.  I started attending churches because I remembered making friends when I was in confirmation as a teenager.  I found the relationships I was looking for as I tried out a new experience called “small groups” through Lake City UMC.  I had never experienced anything like small groups.  The people were very welcoming and kind to me.  They talked about their faith in God and prayed together.  These new friends invited me into their homes for meals and showed me the love of God in many ways.  Those experiences were the beginning of a journey of meeting Jesus and slowly committing more of my life to follow Him.  

After several years of working on the golf course and participating in the life of the church in Lake City, I met my now-wife, Gina.  During that time, I was also starting to sense that God had gifted me for ministry, without knowing exactly what that meant.  I went through a several-year process of discerning and being approved by UMC leadership to become a pastor.  In June of 2015, Gina and I left the church and community we loved so that I could answer God’s call on my life. We moved to Slayton Minnesota, where I served the churches of Slayton UMC and Lake Wilson UMC for two years as a student pastor, before moving here to Lake Crystal.  

Gina and I have two girls and one family dog. We love our church and the community of Lake Crystal.  I have a passion for meeting people, hearing their stories, and helping them to know the love of Jesus however I can.  I substitute teach in the local schools to help with a practical need for substitutes and to build relationships with students and teachers.   I participate weekly in Celebrate Recovery and Al-Anon in Mankato MN. I struggled with alcohol and marijuana abuse until 2011.  I quit those habits on my own, but I appreciate the community of support and sharing of wisdom in Recovery.  I joined Al-Anon because a family member I love very much has had a life-long struggle with alcohol.  Al-Anon helps me to sort through the effect that person’s drinking has had on me.  Al-Anon also equips me to own my behavior and become the person I want to be.              

It's my hope that I will be blessed with the opportunity to meet you, hear your story, and support you in whatever ways you need at this point in your life.   My prayer is that you would experience the grace and goodness of Jesus Christ in the ways you need most.  Guiding you in that journey of discernment is a passion and purpose of my life.  Send me an email if you have any questions for me or if I can support you!