I Am Wilshire – Al Stewart.
Hometown: Avondale, Arizona
Education: BS and JD, University of Arizona
Profession: Attorney
Present city: Dallas
Tell us about your family.
I am married to my best friend, Chris. We have four children: Emery, 25, Isla, 24, Curtis, 21 and Grant, 21.
Tell us about your work or volunteer life.
My law practice focuses on representing people who have cancer caused by companies who failed to test their products for carcinogenicity before selling them to the public.
What are your favorite hobbies?
I love to read literature, study theology and listen to vinyl records.
What brought you to Wilshire and when?
In 2019 a tornado demolished our previous church’s sanctuary. We began attending Wilshire. When the previous church resumed services, no one in our family wanted to leave Wilshire.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
I am a member of the Epiphany Class and sometimes they let me teach. I am also on the Pathways to Ministry Committee.
What has surprised you most about Wilshire?
The diversity of thought and the willingness to express it openly.
What do you think God is up to in your life right now?
I am reading systematic theology books by James William McClendon, Jr. (recommended from George!) I believe God is talking through these books about the importance of convictions. In McClendon’s words, “What must the church teach to be the church now?”
Tell us about your faith journey.
As a boy growing up on a cotton farm, I watched the sunrise and was convinced that creation spoke God’s name. I didn’t hear it. I felt it. My older sister fell from a horse and was placed in ICU. The next day my older brother got his leg crushed under a tractor, and it was hours before he was found. His leg needed to be amputated. My Dad asked God to heal his children and in return he would faithfully serve God. The next day my sister dramatically improved, and the color in my brother’s leg returned to normal. The Doctor asked my parents if they believed in God. He told them to thank God because there was no good explanation for my siblings’ rapid recovery. I have a strong belief in prayer.
What’s something interesting most people wouldn’t know about you?
I won a songwriting contest in Tucson, Arizona, in 1984. I cut a single and enjoyed a little radio airplay. I emphasize “a little.”
- If you’d like to be featured in “I Am Wilshire,” email Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org.