My picture (taken in October 2007)

A BIO OF THE PARSON

I was born in southern Alabama, but my family later moved to northwest Florida when I began first grade, and I went on to complete all my formal primary and secondary education there. However, I still consider Alabama as my home state.

I have been married to my wife, Ellen, since 1981. We have two children, Amy and Joshua. Amy married her husband, Chris, in 2002, and gave birth to our first grandchild, Makenzie Leigh, in 2004. She gave birth to her second child, Connor, in 2007. Joshua finished high school in May 2004, and continues to live with us. I am as proud as any father would be of ALL their accomplishments and success in life.

I am also a conservative, Christian minister in the United Methodist Church, who also serves as a chaplain in the Alabama Army National Guard. That means what little leisure time I have at the end of each day and each week, I have to divide with my family (and other personal responsibilities) and my abiding pleasure of using computer technology and its practical application for serving Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Therefore, my Parson Place ministry is part-time in addition to my regular, full-time ministry as a pastor and an Army National Guard chaplain. Unfortunately, there are only 24 hours in a day, so I frequently get behind on reading and replying to my email because I'm either updating the Parson Place web site or I'm working to create or upgrade a computer program or I'm working to publish a new book through my Christian publishing company, Parson Place Press, in my limited spare time. Nevertheless, I usually respond to personal emails right away, while leaving all the miscellaneous newsletters, etc. for later review.

For hobbies, I enjoy fishing, gardening, writing, and, yes, using computers, though not necessarily in that order. :-) I especially enjoy writing of any kind and creating web pages and computer software. You can check out my Articles from the Parson and the Parson Place FREE Software Downloads pages to see what I mean. Everything on the Articles from the Parson page is personally authored by me, and the Parson Place Software Creations are all the programs I've personally created. Please let me know what you think! Also, I've published my first book, Digital Evangelism: You Can Do It, Too!, in October 2004. It is now available for sale at Parson Place and in online bookstores at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Cokesbury, among others. Go to the Froogle web site and type in the search term, "digital evangelism", and you'll find numerous links to other online stores that carry it. If you want to get it from your local Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, or Cokesbury branch, or any other bookstore, for that matter, you may need to ask them to order it for you. It is also available for ordering in the United Kingdom. Just give the book sellers the book's ISBN -- 1-59581-120-6 -- to place the order from any book distributor in North America or the UK. My next book is expected to be available soon, though I don't have a precise release date yet. After that, I'm thinking of writing an updated and expanded edition of Digital Evangelism: You Can Do It, Too!

THE PARSON'S CREDENTIALS

If you're curious about how I got to where I am at this point in my life, here's a brief description. I completed my primary and secondary education and graduated high school in Graceville, Florida. I earned an Associate in Science degree from Wallace Community College in Dothan, Alabama, then I took a break from college to enlist in the U. S. Army and served three years as a chaplain assistant.

After my discharge from the Army, I was appointed to serve a two-church, United Methodist charge in the Dothan District of the Alabama/West Florida Conference. I also joined the Alabama Army National Guard soon after my discharge from active duty. At the same time, I resumed my education and went on to complete a dual baccalaureate degree in history and English at Troy State University (now simply called Troy University) in Troy, Alabama. I next received my Master of Divinity degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. I was ordained an elder in The United Methodist Church in 1991. I served a total of 12 years as a local parish minister in the Alabama/West Florida Conference, and as a member of the Alabama Army National Guard, before being selected by the Army Chief of Chaplain's Office in 1996 to serve on active duty as an Army chaplain. However, after nine-and-a-half years on active duty as an Army chaplain, I was twice passed over for promotion to the rank of Major (the grade of O-4), so I transitioned into the Army Reserve in 2006 in hopes of getting promoted there. In July 2006, I transferred back into the Alabama Army National Guard (AL-ARNG) so I could drill a little closer to home (I was having to drive 3.5 hours one way each month for drill, or battle assembly, as they call it now). I was finally promoted to Major in the AL-ARNG in 2007. I am also serving now as the full-time pastor of the Rosinton United Methodist Church in Robertsdale, Alabama. You can stay posted on the latest news of my situation either by checking back on this page in a few months, or by subscribing to my low-volume email list.

FAMILY NEWS AND UPDATES

You can read my Family Newsletters section of this web site for more details about the happenings in my family. I usually update it every year just after Christmas with a review of the previous year's events.

MY STATEMENT OF FAITH

Perhaps you're wondering just what it is I believe. Well, let me tell you anyway. :-)

I mentioned above that I am "a conservative, Christian, United Methodist minister, who also serves as a chaplain in the Alabama Army National Guard." Let me tell you what I mean by each of those adjectives.

"Conservative" means I hold firmly to the Judeo-Christian principles and commandments stated in the Holy Bible, and I DON'T want to see them altered in any way. I'm open to change in a lot of areas, but NOT in the Word of God!

"Christian" means I adhere, as best I can in the weak flesh I inhabit, to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Apostles He commissioned with spreading the Gospel throughout the earth. If they said it, I try to follow it and obey it. It's that simple. That doesn't mean I ignore anything in the Old Testament though. I believe it is as relevant as ever. In fact, much of the New Testament is a restatement of the Old Testament and a clarification of its application for us as Christians today.

"United Methodist" means I hold to the theology of John Wesley. My favorite statements by Mr. Wesley are:

I am a strong opponent to many in my denomination, The United Methodist Church, whom I perceive have miscontrued the sound teachings not only of John Wesley, our denominational founder, but of the Holy Bible, particularly regarding the issues of homosexuality and abortion. While our denomination's official stance on each of these issues currently remains in line with the Scripture, we face a new onslaught from some of our bishops, other clergy, and laity every four years at our General Conference to water them down or omit them altogether. Please pray that Satan will not prevail over the people called Methodist!

"Minister" means I am a servant of Jesus Christ and of His Holy Church. Everything I do, I do for Him and them. That's basically all I can say about that one.

"Chaplain" means I am a clergyman in a military uniform -- an Alabama Army National Guard uniform, to be precise. I don't know where some people get the erroneous notion that ministers of the Gospel who join the military are "leaving the ministry". Christian chaplains do everything civilian ministers do, and probably MORE than most. We preach, teach, visit, counsel, comfort and encourage, sometimes reprove (when necessary), evangelize (without proselytizing from other faiths, unless individuals express a desire to convert), and lead folks to a newfound faith in Jesus as personal Savior as a result of evangelism, preaching, teaching, and all the other things we do. We administer the sacraments of holy communion and baptism, conduct weddings, funerals, and memorial services, lead and/or attend administrative meetings, write devotional articles, and ... need I keep going? We do everything civilian ministers do, except we do it in a military uniform and according to military rules and regulations.

So, what MORE do we do than civilian ministers? Well, for one thing, we do physical training, or PT, as we call it. We also have to pass a semi-annual PT test in the Army, which requires a minimum number of push-up repetitions within a two-minute time limit, a minimum number of sit-up repetitions within a two-minute time limit, and a two-mile run within a maximum time limit, all based upon age groupings and with no more than ten minutes break between events. We also have a weigh-in immediately after each PT test to insure we don't exceed maximum allowable height-weight standards or percentage of body fat. If we do, we are placed on a weight control program in which we must make satisfactory progress or be separated from the military service. The same goes if we fail the PT test twice consecutively. Of course, these standards are the same for everyone in the Army, unless one has a medical reason documented by a physician (we call that a physical profile), so chaplains are no exception. I don't know of any churches or denominations which require these sorts of physical fitness standards, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing. :-)

Well, I think that about covers the most important points of my faith. If you still have questions about what I believe, or if you're interested in becoming an Army chaplain either in the Army National Guard, Army Reserve or the Regular Army, just write me at info@parsonplace.com at any time with any questions about who to contact, etc. The Army National Guard and Army Reserve are both very short on chaplains right now, even more so than the Regular Army, so I welcome your emails. Hey, I'm not recruiting for the Regular Army anymore, since I am in the Army National Guard now! You can also learn more about how to apply for the Army chaplaincy at http://chaplain.goarmy.com/index02.htm