Pastor. Preacher. Writer. 

Three-year-old Stephanie preaching from a music stand at a church wedding shower. Nine-year-old Stephanie running an imaginary board meeting with imaginary members in the copy room at church. How I did not see pastoral ministry coming remains a mystery! Nevertheless, my whole life long God has wooed me to God's very self in relationship and in service to Christ's church.

I have been minister in the Church of the Nazarene for almost 20 years, and was ordained an elder in 2011. I have had the sacred privilege of serving the church as a volunteer missionary in Italy, as a co-lead pastor at local churches, as a university chaplain, and as a traveling preacher.
 
I am also a writer.  I started out writing curriculum years ago, but led by the Spirit, I began writing for other publications in 2017. Since that time, I have since published four books, three co-authored alongside leaders in my denomination and one about my story entitled “Signs of Life: Resurrecting Hope from Ordinary Losses.”  The “big idea” of this book is that the God of the Resurrection is at work breathing newness and healing into what I describe as the “ordinary deaths” of life, the death of expectations, plans, image, and invincibility.  

But I’m not just a preacher/teacher/writer.  I am also a wife and a mom.  When I was 12, I dated this cute, crazy shy boy in an oversized Nebraska jersey.   He never talked so I dumped him.  Nine years later, that boy and I said “I do” and we’ve been journeying together as partners in ministry and life every since.  Josephine (JoJo) joined the family in 2012, followed by her brother Jack in 2016.  They are pretty much the coolest kids ever.