I am the community builder for Strong Towns, a national nonprofit that helps towns and cities across North America become financially strong and resilient. Prior to becoming community builder I served for two-and-a-half years as content manager. In that role, I helped oversee the creation and publication of hundreds of articles and podcasts each year.I also the co-author of two books: "Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus"​ (2014) and "Besides the Bible: 100 Books That Have, Should, or Will Create Christian Culture" (2010), both from InterVarsity Press. I write, speak, and consult regularly on topics related to faith, culture, neighborhood flourishing, and the church.Formerly the Managing Editor of CONSPIRE Magazine and Deputy Editor of the Burnside Writers Collective, my essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in RELEVANT, Books & Culture, the Englewood Review of Books, and in other newspapers and magazines around the country. I’m also a voting member of the National Book Critics Circle. I’ve been a guest speaker at conferences, churches, and in classrooms from Seattle to Louisville, including recent presentations at the Seattle School for Theology & Psychology, Seattle University, and George Fox University.From 2007 to 2011, I was the cofounder and lead writer for Cascadia Resource Consultants (CRC), a grant writing and funding development company. In four years, CRC helped secure more than $32.5 million for its clients, including school districts, colleges, universities, faith-based organizations, and other nonprofits. After 2011, I served as the grants manager for the Oregon College of Art and Craft and the Salem Art Association, as well as the online community manager for the Ford Institute Leadership Program, a rural vitality initiative of The Ford Family Foundation.I live with my wife, Kate, and our two daughters in Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley.