about

I’ve been married to the fabulous Maggie (or Margaret) Swanson (formerly Watson) since June 5, 1999.

I was born in Elizabethton, TN while my dad attended Moody Bible Institute’s flight school. My parents joined Mission Aviation Fellowship and we lived in Costa Rica for a few months, Venezuela for a decade, Ecuador for a couple of years, and Redlands, CA for my high school years.

I graduated from Montreat College in western North Carolina in 1999 with a BS in Outdoor Education and minors in Environmental Studies and Spanish.

Maggie and I worked at the Nantahala Outdoor Center during our first year of marriage.

In August of 2000 we packed up the pickup truck and drove to Wheaton, IL so I could attend Wheaton College Graduate School. That same month we began attending Parkview Community Church. A few years later I would be hired as the part time Children’s Ministry Assistant. The summer of 2003 I switched to a full time associate pastor.

In 2003 we also began working one evening a week at La Spiaza Coffeehouse in downtown Wheaton. For 4 years we made delicious drinks on Tuesday nights.

Maggie works with Wheaton Youth Outreach. Her experiences with the hidden poor of the western suburbs have impacted my thinking a lot. She does amazing work.

We have a cat, Gabriella. Two l’s in her name because we think she’s Italian.

In the spring of 2008 we made the move from the suburbs to Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood so I could take the position of Community Life Pastor at New Community Covenant Church.

The content of this blog reflects a few things: interest in elements of culture (especially film and music), concern for issues of justice, confusion about theology and ecclesiology, love of travel, and my often feeble attempts of following Jesus.

A quick disclaimer. While I am a pastor at Parkview New Community, the thoughts I express as a pastor are just my thoughts. Hope that’s OK.

Feel free to contact me.

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