I didn’t think I’d be a pastor when I first showed up to Frankford Ave. almost fifteen years ago. I was looking for a place I could call home, a place that would “get me,” include me, welcome me. Egyptians who are rebelling from their oddly Evangelical upbringing can’t really find a place to call home. My faith was teetering. Post-9/11, the War on Terror looming, I didn’t know if I could find Christians that wanted to actually love their neighbor. I found that with Circle of Hope. Not just because of our commitment to peace, but also because someone remembered my name! That changed my life and saved my faith. I finally found Christians that didn’t make me ashamed of my faith!
I began serving as pastor in September 2010 when ew launch a congregation in North Philly. Our congregation on North Philly was the first multiplication from a multiplication. In September of 2018, that congregation consolidated with the one on Frankford Ave., and I began serving there primarily. Before pastoring, I was a social studies teacher in Philly. I’m a big-time Bible and theology nerd. I love home-cooking: baking bread and dessert, and smoking big cuts of meat in my North Philly backyard. I love and hate Philly sports. And I write about all that and more on my blog, Contents and Containers.