Category: Housekeeping

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Back from Vacation!

Hello all, and greetings from Chicago!

The silence around here for the past couple of weeks has been for two reasons:

First, an eight-day trip by car to Las Vegas, with my kiddos and girlfriend, to visit my parents, who live there.

Then, packing and loading and driving a moving truck from Tulsa to my new home in Chicago! Classes start in two weeks at Garrett, but we are moved in here and mostly unpacked. I am loving Chicago; we live on the north side, in an area near the lake called Rogers Park.

Now that things are fairly settled, and I’m not driving thousands of miles, the plan is to get back to a regular blogging schedule around here. I do have things to say about Charlottesville, and the despicable, morally-vacuous response by the President. And I hope to share my thoughts on school once we start. Finally, seeing that I just moved 700 miles away from friends and family, I anticipate sharing more about the goings-on in my life here, rather than just strictly topical blog posts. This will include some of the things out and about in the city, as well as maybe my search for a new church home here. We’ll see where this goes.

Thanks for sticking around, and for your patience!

Big Changes Ahead!

As I’ve shared here before, this last year has been one of much change. And in a few weeks, one of the biggest changes of all will be happening in my life.

I have been accepted into the Master of Theological Studies program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, in Evanston, Illinois, beginning this fall semester. Obviously, this means I am leaving Phillips Theological Seminary here in Tulsa, where I have been enrolled for the last two years. A variety of factors have played into this decision, and I am excited to get up to Chicago and finish my Masters work so I can begin working on my Ph.D! I will miss Phillips and all the wonderful colleagues I had there, but I am also excited for a whole new cohort of peers and teachers at GETS!

At Garrett, I will be doing my thesis work in Constructive Theology, with specific areas of focus on suffering, death and dying, liberation theology, and the work of Moltmann. (Or at least that’s the plan for now.) I  look forward to sharing here how my thoughts are being shaped and growing, and some of my work as well. And of course, I look forward to your feedback on that work!

Leaving Tulsa is not an easy choice, especially because my kids will still be there. I am making this choice fully knowing I am going to have to be a long-distance parent for a while. It’s hard and really sad to be away from them, but I still intend to be an active presence in their lives, and to be in Tulsa as often as I can to be with them.

This also means I am leaving the wonderful community at All Souls Unitarian Church, where I have been employed for the last year and a half, and the campus ministry at the University of Tulsa where I also worked. I hate to leave both of these places, and all the wonderful people I have met there.

I look forward to sharing my Chicago/Garrett adventures here, especially all the exciting/interesting/challenging things I will come upon in my studies. Classes start September 5th, and I am relocating in just three short weeks. Thanks to you all for your support, and if you are in Chicago, give me a shout!