About Pre Evangelism.

I am a theoretically retired priest (all I offer is free!) who lives in the middle of North Carolina. I have three daughters and 5 grandchildren plus 4 step-grandchildren. In addition to all the studying I do, they keep me in touch with those two generations! In fact, one of the most disturbing graphics I will show you is from one of my grandchildren. By ‘disturbing’ I mean it should make you sit up and take notice. My educational background helps explain the way I look at things.

My first career and job were in Civil Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston. You will hear my love of research, numbers, analysis, and most of all ‘what really works!’ Engineers focus on ‘efficiency and effectiveness’, or as we say, ‘easy and cheap ways to make things work!’ Many times, I will tell you my two favorite words are ‘free’ and ‘easy’! My first Master’s is in city planning from Cornell University.

That fed my fascination with what influences people to act in certain ways. In essence this work is trying to influence people to grow closer to God and associate with a church community. My Divinity degree is from Duke University with a year at Virginia Seminary. Duke is a graduate school and not a seminary. It is a Methodist school that trains many UMC pastors. In addition to UMC and Episcopal students there were Baptists, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and a smattering of agnostics and atheists! In other words, Duke was similar in ways to the people we are trying to reach. They come from diverse backgrounds or no real background at all. I found that experience to be extremely valuable when interacting with people in the parish, and people asking about religion.

My personal background is similar to Duke! My parents never owned a car so we went to the church you could walk to. Until age 5 we attended a Dutch Reform church in New York City. Then after moving to New Jersey, we briefly attended a Lutheran Church until it moved, then a Congregational Church which became UCC. In college I joined the Roman Catholics for the best reason of all – hormones! At Cornell we attended non-denominational worship services. When we moved to North Carolina we did not feel welcome in the RC church, saw a newspaper article about a small Episcopal Church and never looked back!

Hmmmm …. I frequently wonder if that lack of welcome was God’s way of redirecting us to where we could pursue ordination. Hmmmm My first wife was ordained a vocational deacon, after which I entered the process and was ordained at age 46. The Bishop sent me to two small missions, one of which was effectively bankrupt and expected to close soon. He did not know that. Once I had to lend the church money to pay the electric bill so we could hold services! When you want to talk about budget shortfalls, I can emphasize! You will meet my second wife, Shirley, as we go along. She is my love, my support, my best critic and the source of some of the best ideas you will hear!

The churches grew. (see the page on ‘the basics – why’). It took longer than it would now with the knowledge and tools available. The smaller church grew from an ASA of about 16 to 34 over five years. The larger, bankrupt church went from about 35 to 120 over 15 years. That illustrates how growth is possible and it takes time. But with our current tools it will not take anywhere near as long! That’s me.