A little about me: I was ordained on June 13th, 2009, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, by Archbishop Brunett for the Archdiocese of Seattle. I served as parochial vicar for the Tacoma cluster of parishes (then a six-parish grouping) from 2009-2010, as parochial vicar at Saint Michael’s in Olympia from 2010-2011, as priest administrator and pastor of Holy Rosary & Saint Joseph in Tacoma from 2011-2015, and in the Lewis county cluster (initially a nine-church grouping!) from 2015-2019. My last assignment was at St. Mark parish in Shoreline starting July 1, 2019 as pastor.
Though my immediate family lives here in Washington, we are originally from Minnesota, where my parents were born and raised. The first of my parents, I lived there a whole six months before my father’s military career took us around the country and to a few places beyond. I am the second eldest of my siblings, with an older half-sister, a younger brother, an adoptive sister, a foster brother, and finally my youngest adoptive brother. As you might imagine, we’re quite a crowd – both in number and variety – when we get together!
My hobbies include reading (science fiction & fantasy for fun, healing & Marian writings for the spiritual side – I recommend In Sinu Jesu by A Benedictine Monk and He and I by Gabrielle Bossis to anyone looking for their next spiritual reading!), technology, gaming (tabletop & video), hiking trails, and archery – among other things! I can be found at my blog, at my personal Twitter account, or on the r/Catholicism & r/AskAPriest Reddit online, where I much enjoy engaging other Catholics and those interested in discussing the faith.
Thanks to my parents’ faithful passing on of the faith and many wonderful pastors, I have a great love for our faith, particularly in the faithful & frequent celebration of the sacraments in liturgical celebration. It is a delight to continue to be formed in the rich history and tradition of our faith, as well as to take advantage of the modern developments & technology that enable us to pass on the faith to the next generation.
To my parishioners and any visitors, I would offer special invitation and exhortation to come to confession! The reception and celebration of God’s merciful love is a particular passion of mine, both in my own practice as a Catholic as well as in my ministry as a priest. There is such a great joy in the lifting of the weight of sin – especially long-standing or grave sin – from our souls. I hope you’ll consider coming to reconciliation – and joyfully receiving the Eucharist at the soonest Mass afterwards.