Hometown: San Antonio
Present City: Grand Prairie
Education: B.M., Piano Performance (Baylor); M.M., Piano Performance (Univ. of Houston); D.M.A., Church Music/Piano Performance (Southwestern Seminary)
Profession: Music professor, Dallas Baptist Univ.
Tell us about your family.
I grew up on a generational family farm on the outskirts of San Antonio. My father was a hospital chaplain and part-time farmer. My son and his wife live with me in Grand Prairie.
How about your work or volunteer life?
I teach piano at DBU and find the one-on-one work with students rewarding.
Any favorite hobbies?
Music is consuming as my work and my hobby.
What are your favorite places to travel?
I recently visited Soul City Church in Chicago and would love to return. An online group there supported me as I recovered from tongue cancer in 2023.
What brought you to Wilshire and when?
Two years ago, unrest in the SBC was troubling me, and I wanted to find an accepting and loving church. I value intellectual depth and need acceptance of questions.
What surprised you most about Wilshire?
The love and acceptance were not as much a surprise as a fulfilled hope regarding what I had heard about Wilshire: that I would find a strong, faith-full family of love.
Where are you engaged at Wilshire?
Cord of Three Class and Stephen Ministry.
What do you think God is up to in your life now?
Learning what it means to pray in a manner of focused attention and care. My words are few in prayer as people and concerns come into focus during quiet meditation. Stephen Ministry training provided valuable tools I continue to sharpen in all relationships.
Tell us about your faith journey.
I accepted Jesus as my Savior at age 6. I went through years of doubt, mostly prompted by sermons focused on altar calls. As I met Christians from other backgrounds and asked how they came to faith, the answers were not formulaic. I knew something started at 6. Babies cannot remember their birth, so rather than dissecting the beginning of my faith, I learned the true meaning of resting in it.
What’s something interesting most people would not know about you?
I can be thoroughly entertained by reading directions; they are humorous for everyday items.
What adjectives best describe you?
Quiet but determined. Our greatest gifts can be our greatest liabilities. Stephen Ministry has positively tempered my determination to care.