OUR STORY · WHY HOMEWARD EXISTS
Homeward grew from more than thirty years of spiritual practice, leadership work, and one recurring question: how do we help people actually practice the life Jesus describes—not only talk about it?
What if a small group could become a place where people learn to be more present to God, more honest with themselves, and more available to love one another?
That question is at the heart of Homeward.
Rather than build a competing community, I want to come alongside existing Christian groups for a short season—helping people pray, listen, reflect, and practice together, then leaving the group with rhythms it can continue on its own.
THE QUESTION THAT STAYED WITH ME
I grew up in the Christian faith and still value much of what formed me there: Jesus, Scripture, prayer, service, and the conviction that faith should matter in the way we live.
Over time, I became less interested in simply knowing more and more interested in what helps us become less reactive, more grounded in God, more compassionate, and more capable of love.
Teaching matters. Theology matters. But I have come to believe that formation also requires practice—repeated ways of praying, listening, reflecting, and showing up differently with God and with one another.
THIRTY YEARS OF FORMATION
My formation has included Religious Studies and Anthropology, decades of prayer and meditation, extended retreats, silence, monasteries and retreat centers, Christian meditation, Centering Prayer, breath prayer, contemplative Scripture, and learning in community.
I also spent meaningful time learning from Buddhist contemplative traditions. I value what I learned without pretending every tradition teaches the same thing. Homeward is not an interfaith spirituality program; it is intentionally Jesus-centered and rooted in Christian formation.
THE DEEPER I WENT, THE MORE I RETURNED TO JESUS
Through years of study and practice, Jesus remained the deepest center of my spiritual life. The more I explored presence, surrender, compassion, forgiveness, and love, the more I found myself returning to the Gospels and to the way Jesus actually lived with people.
I discovered that silence, meditation, receptive prayer, and deep interior formation do not have to sit outside Christianity. They are woven through the Christian contemplative tradition and can help faith move from something we discuss into something we practice.
That is the spirit behind Homeward: Jesus-centered, practice-based, open to honest questions, and oriented toward becoming more available to God and more loving toward other people.
THE OPPORTUNITY WAS ALREADY SITTING INSIDE CHURCHES
Churches already have small groups, care teams, recovery communities, staff teams, and people who know and trust one another. I became less interested in asking people to join one more thing and more interested in serving the communities that are already there.
That is why Homeward now begins with short, experiential offerings: a four-week group experience and a three-session Sacred Listening workshop. We come in, facilitate the experience, help people try new practices together, and leave the group with tools it can continue using.
The goal is not to replace a pastor, a church, a small-group leader, or a theological tradition. It is to add a layer of formation that helps people slow down, listen more deeply, and carry their faith into ordinary life.
Come alongside the group. Strengthen what is already there.
WHY I FEEL PREPARED TO SERVE A GROUP
If I am invited into someone else’s group, I believe trust matters. My background brings together spiritual formation, organizational leadership, coaching and facilitation, and the ordinary formation of marriage, parenting, work, and community.
More than thirty years of contemplative study, retreat, prayer, meditation, and practice; a BA in Religious Studies and Anthropology from UC Santa Barbara; and ongoing work with Centering Prayer, breath prayer, contemplative Scripture, silence, reflection, and Sacred Listening.
Twenty-five years of business leadership; Stagen Leadership Academy; Academy for Coaching Excellence (ACE); HeartMath certification; The Empowerment Dynamic (TED*) training; and experience facilitating high-trust YPO and Vistage peer and mastermind groups.
Together with my wife, Lorraine, for twenty years and married for sixteen; father of two teenagers; and deeply shaped by the everyday work of marriage, parenting, friendship, pressure, responsibility, and leadership.
FAMILY & ORDINARY LIFE
Lorraine and I have been together for twenty years and married for sixteen, and we are raising two teenagers. Marriage, parenting, work, conflict, responsibility, and ordinary family life have been some of my deepest places of formation. Homeward is meant for that world—not only the retreat center.
HOW I HOPE TO SHOW UP
I have spent much of my professional life building teams, developing leaders, facilitating difficult conversations, and trying to create cultures where people can be both honest and accountable.
The best groups I have experienced—spiritual, professional, and personal—share some of the same qualities: trust, confidentiality, curiosity, personal responsibility, good questions, and enough structure for real conversation to happen.
The point of my background is not to make Homeward about me. It is to help me serve your group well.
Nothing has tested formation more than ordinary life: marriage, parenting, running a company, conflict, responsibility, and learning to stay present when things do not go the way I want. Homeward has to work there or it is not useful enough.
That is what I want to bring into Homeward: thoughtful facilitation that helps people experience something together, notice what is happening within them, and deepen the community they already have.
The programs, organizations, teachers, and communities referenced here describe my personal formation and experience. Their inclusion does not imply formal sponsorship or endorsement of Homeward.
FOR CHRISTIAN GROUP LEADERS
If you lead a small group, care team, staff team, recovery community, or other Christian group and want to introduce contemplative practice in a grounded, approachable way, Homeward is designed to come alongside what you are already doing.
Give your existing group a guided taste of contemplative prayer, Centering Prayer, Sacred Listening, reflection, and everyday practice.
Use a three-session workshop to help people become more present, listen with compassion, and help others feel seen, heard, and loved.
Homeward steps back after the experience. Your group keeps its relationships, leadership, identity, and the practices that were useful.
