I grew up the youngest of four in a family with hard-working farm parents. My mother grew up on what was once the Leach farm in Jasper and my Father worked as a farm hand most of his life. Farm work is how I got started in high school and through college. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in History with secondary education and a concentration in Psychology from SUNY Geneseo.
As I began feeling called to ministry, I also found healthcare to be a good gateway for me. I worked in healthcare for many years while focusing on my family. I was a certified nurse assistant but also had a little experience as a rehab aid providing maintenance for people in long-term care (doing ambulation and range of motion exercise) and assisting the therapists with short-term rehab residents. I had some experience while in seminary also serving at group homes for people with developmental disabilities. My time in healthcare provided opportunities to lead worship services and also officiate many funerals.
I attended Northeastern Seminary in Rochester and found myself in a comfortable place to begin ministry afterwards, working for Arnot Health in their Bath location serving Ira Davenport hospital and Taylor Health Center. I had the opportunity to sharpen my skills and relied on my knowledge and experience to meet needs of the nursing home residents. I was also challenged to work with people with addictions and behavioral health issues and tending to people in many types of distressful situations.
I did not plan a transition from healthcare chaplaincy to congregational ministry when I first led a worship service at the United Presbyterian Church in Hornell, yet I found myself drawn into a life-changing journey of renewal. Nestled between my father’s childhood home in Burns and my mother’s in Jasper, UPC serves as a place of belonging and refreshed faith. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we embrace this renewal that inspires hope and connection as we live out the gospel by supporting and serving the Hornell community.
It was a little painful leaving chaplaincy, but the call of God to serve the church in a congregation that truly loves me and that I love was just too irresistible not to make a change. I first took a temporary role with UPC in January 2025 and began serving as the full-time called pastor in September 2025. My service of ordination and installation took place on October 11, 2025. I like to use a term from a member of the congregation who referred to my ordination and installation as my “pastorization.”
I have just recently dropped off my youngest to college, although not until after she joined UPC. My wife Jenny and I are now transitioning to the world of empty-nesters.