Hometown: Port Lavaca, home of the fighting Sandcrabs. My grandparents’ farm/ranch near San Antonio was my second home. My father was once named King Reboog, which is Goober spelled backwards, for the local peanut festival.
Present City: Plano (Is it true nothing good comes from north of 635?)
Education: BS Advertising, UT Austin (BS makes sense, doesn’t it?); MDiv, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (witness to the 1994 SBC takeover); DMin, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Presbys were nicer and more fun); Clinical Pastoral Education, Baptist Medical Center, San Antonio
Profession: Market research analyst; independent consultant for smart products and Internet of things. I have also worked at or as a granary, ranch, oil field, construction, Texas legislature, advertising agency, PR consultant, adjunct professor, house cleaner, fertility clinic, psychologists’ office, pastor, church planter, Hispanic theological university, marketing director and online media editor.
Tell us about your family.
Kenda, née Robinson, and I just celebrated our 31st anniversary. We have a newly married daughter, a son in medical school, and a daughter in nursing school. They all get their compassion from their mother, an LMSW for a hospice.
How about your work or volunteer life?
Several years ago we were pleased to discover and support the work of Covenant House, which addresses youth homelessness, particularly LGBTQ+ youth, young people of color, and
pregnant and parenting youth.
Favorite hobbies?
I have sung in Credo Community Choir of Dallas but am taking a break. I am a novice fiction writer, currently working on a collection of short stories and a novel.
What brought you to Wilshire and when?
We joined in 2017. The inclusion decision was critical for us, along with the warm community and progressive public theology and action.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
I teach, therefore I am. I’ve taught in about nine different classes. We have belonged to the Epiphany class since day one. I serve as a deacon, chaired the Pathways Committee and sat on the Pastor Search Committee. I participate in Faith in 3D productions and volunteer in missions activities.
What do you think God is up to in your life right now?
Teaching me how to mature wisely and become what Rohr calls the “Holy Fool” who can hold the paradoxes together by patiently trusting God and valuing my full humanity and that of others.
Something interesting most people would not know about you?
My 40s midlife crisis led to triathlons, and I completed three Half Ironman races, my favorite being the Vineman 70.3 in Sonoma. Also, I have eaten smoked caterpillars in Zimbabwe. They do not taste like chicken.
*If you are interested in being featured in an upcoming I Am Wilshire feature, contact Carolyn Murray (cmurray@wilshirebc.org)