I am the Pastor of Young Adults at Christ Journey Church in Miami, FL, and have been serving in my current position since August 2015. Prior to my current position, I served as the Pastor to Students and Families at the Hillside Church of Marin, in Corte Madera, CA. I love my work and appreciate waking in the morning, knowing that I am headed to serve in a role for which I was created to do!

But it took a while to get here…

I grew up in a divorced home. My Father moved away when I was 5 years old, and the duties and responsibilities for both of my parents fell solely upon my Mother. 

She faithfully raised my brother and me. She tirelessly provided for our needs and created a wonderful, stable home environment for us to feel safe and secure. She relied on her personal relationship in Jesus for encouragement and strength to love and parent two boys who contained seemingly boundless amounts of energy. 

My mom was our rock and sacrificed so much for us to grow up as normal as possible.

One of the greatest gifts that my mom gave us, however - in addition to love and security, was a real, vibrant faith. She always created space in our lives for us to ask tough questions, doubt, and fail. She gave us a love for attending church, and she always responded to us with grace and mercy, truly modeling for us boys a life saved by grace.

During this time, while my mom worked full-time, the church provided a second home environment for my brother and me to grow up. It was safe, loving, and fun! I made great friends there. I found kids my age who saw life through a similar worldview as me, which I needed as a teenager. I received caring parental guidance from older caring adults.

In our local church, I discovered the real and true love of Jesus Christ, which set my eyes upon a vision of what the local church could mean for a community.

In high school, I decided that I wanted to pursue long-term ministry in the church, but I was convinced that it would be through volunteering, not full-time vocational work. I attended Alderson Broaddus College to pursue a degree in Mathematics. During my junior year, however, I began to 'feel nudged' toward another career path.

During each of my four years of college, I served in a volunteer capacity with an organization called Young Life, working with high school teenagers who lived in a small coal mining town in Northern West Virginia. One year after leading a summer camp, I thought to myself on the way home that if I could do full time what I had just done for a couple of weeks, then I would take that job in a heartbeat.

Apparently, God heard my desire, and the rest is history.

After graduating from college, I enrolled at the Princeton Theological Seminary, receiving a Master of Divinity with a focus in Missional Theology and a Master of Arts with an emphasis in Adolescent Development and Spiritual Formation. I studied under esteemed professors and mentors, such as Darrell Guder, Kenda Creasy Dean, John Flett, Richard Osmer, and Gordon Mikoski. I graduated from Princeton in May 2010, earning the prestigious Bryant J. Kirkland Excellence in Practical Theology Award.

Serving as a Pastor in the local church truly has been the call of a lifetime. I feel humbled and grateful to do the work of Christ through a local church. 

I have been married to the love of my life, my beautiful wife, Stacy Tschirhart Reed, since April 2011. I see Jesus in her everyday, and my faith and life would not be what it is without her constant witness in my life. On January 27th, 2014, we welcomed our greatest blessing of our marriage thus far: our little girl, Hannah Grace, to our family. 

When I am not producing content, speaking, consulting, or serving as a Pastor, I enjoy living life with my wonderful wife and daughter, reading and writing on one of the many beautiful beaches near my home, and exploring all of the sights and sounds of Miami.  

Contact

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or requests on my Contact Page and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.