Joel remembers at the age of seven, his mother taking him and his sister into College Hill Presbyterian Church in Easton, Pennsylvania. Little did he know, being raised in this church would influence him in profound ways eventually leading him into the church as a pastor, then to seed a new community here in Denver and now to serve as the Associate for Congregational Development with Denver Presbytery.
Joel moved to Denver in 1993 and fell in love with the city and the wild-land throughout the state. When he walked into First Presbyterian Church in Golden he knew he had found a home and began to participate in their life and mission. He met his wife Juli while working as a front line counselor at Denver Children’s Home. The two both wanted to try working in wilderness ministry and were wondering if they should go to seminary. So for a few years, they led ministry based wilderness trips for youth throughout Colorado before heading off to Fuller Seminary for theological training. Joel had no intention of being a pastor, but as God works, through many classes, professors, friends and spirit-led experiences Joel discerned the call to become a pastor. The session at First Presbyterian Church in Golden took him under their care and he began the ordination process with Denver Presbytery.
Upon finishing his education he found a wonderful internship serving the urban, diverse congregation of what was then, North Presbyterian Church. His first call took him to a rural, traditional congregation as their solo pastor for six years in Southern Illinois. These experiences formed and shaped him in deep ways as he began to learn the art of pastoring. And then along with friends, and in partnership with Denver Presbytery and First Pres. Golden, they plotted an adventure of living out their faith in tangible ways here in Denver West Highland neighborhood to see what God might be up to. Out of this mission experiment, a small gathering of misfits, many who came from outside of the church, formed and still worship in member’s homes most Sunday evenings.
Joel is excited about this opportunity as it fits his passion to see churches thrive in this rapidly changing world. He will be able to use his gifts and experience to come alongside existing churches to resource, coach and encourage. Simultaneously, he will work to create infrastructure, cultivate a culture and develop leaders for seeding more, new faith communities throughout Denver Presbytery.
Joel still loves to get out into the mountains when he can, and loves spending as much time as possible with his kids and wife. He enjoys movies, seeing live music, learning to make plants taste great and talking about Jesus. He has three teenagers, Gabriel, Kate and Micah and an English Springer Spaniel named Bella.
