Willow is one of the largest and most influential churches in the country, and its long-held value for utilizing the arts as a means of teaching truth, moving hearts, and changing lives pushed me to grow exponentially as an artist, leader, and teacher. Directing a crazy-creative team to produce hundreds of films, stories, dances, and other work made me a better writer, director, performer, and storyteller. The opportunity to help define and articulate the overall arc of the weekend as a part of the teaching team also helped shape me as a strategist, pastor, and collaborator. In addition, my time at Willow introduced me to the Global Leadership Summit where I was a regular guest artist, creating work and performing for worldwide audiences of hundreds of thousands.

An eclectic, casual, and expressive vibe coupled with compelling teaching and worship made ROCKHARBOR the place to be for college students as well as young families. But I was drawn by the vision for leveraging all forms of creativity to help people encounter Jesus. Leading more than 100 volunteers—both professional and amateur artists—by commissioning work, building community, and empowering ideas taught me how to come alongside and encourage the potential in other artists, and it showed me how the best leaders are really servants and collaborators. That lesson aided me when I became Weekend Director, a role that required uniting multiple disciplines, including: worship, teaching, communications, and the arts.

Skyline, a large church in the eastern suburbs of San Diego, took a chance on me and gave me my first ministry job as the “video guy.” But as part of an up and coming young staff at an older church I sought to infuse creativity into everything, eventually resulting in a few of us launching and leading a new service geared toward young adults. When that gathering quickly doubled in attendance it led to my becoming the Young Adults Pastor. As my new role continued to expand to also include discipleship for the whole church, it forced me to grow rapidly in my skills as a leader, pastor, and teacher.

Assisted in the design and creation of scenery for a professional LORT theater company by providing leadership to the teams involved in the process of building and installing sets.