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Study
Religious Studies and Anthropology at UC Santa Barbara, followed by continued theological and spiritual study.
OUR STORY · WHY HOMEWARD EXISTS
I went looking for a faith I could actually live.
For years, I carried questions about God, salvation, other religions, and the Christianity I had inherited that I couldn’t seem to resolve. I wanted answers that could hold together both intellectually and spiritually—but I couldn’t find them.
If God is love, is everyone who doesn’t believe exactly what I believe really going to hell?
I could not find answers that satisfied both my mind and my heart. So I kept asking. Then I went looking.
That search eventually led through years of study, monasteries, retreat centers, extended silent practice, and contemplative communities across traditions—and, unexpectedly, back toward Christ.
THE QUESTIONS BEGAN EARLY
I loved Jesus. I wasn’t sure what to do with the answers I was given.
I grew up evangelical. There was much in that world I still value: Scripture, prayer, service, the person of Jesus, and the conviction that faith should matter.
But some questions would not leave me alone. What happens to people in other religions? Is fear really the center of salvation? Why did a God of love sometimes sound so unlike the Jesus I encountered in the Gospels?
I wasn’t trying to lose my faith. I was trying to be honest about the questions I already had—and to find a way of faith I could live truthfully.
SO I WENT LOOKING
I wanted to know what actually changes a human life.
Over the years I spent months in retreat environments—monasteries, retreat centers, extended silent practice, and communities shaped by Christian meditation, Buddhist mindfulness, contemplative prayer, and other traditions. This wasn’t casual curiosity. I wanted to understand what sustained practice actually does to a life.
You don’t need any of this experience to begin. One reason I’m building Homeward is so people can taste the depth of these practices in ordinary life. No meditation experience or theological expertise is required. Start where you are.
THE RETURN
My heart kept coming back to Christ.
Through all of it, I never really stopped praying to Jesus. My old framework for Christianity changed, but the person and way of Christ remained the deepest gravitational center of my spiritual life.
Then I read Richard Rohr’s The Universal Christ. It was a pivotal moment for me. His expansive, Christ-centered reframing gave me a vision of Christianity I had been missing—spacious enough for mystery and honest questions, yet deeply rooted in Christ.
The practices I encountered elsewhere did not replace Christ for me. They helped me return with a more open heart.
THE MISSING PIECE
I came home with practices. I didn’t have people to practice with.
A retreat can open something in you. Then you come home, the phone rings, work starts, the kids need something, traffic happens—and the practice can quietly disappear.
What I wanted was remarkably simple: a few people who wanted to keep going. A place to practice together, explore Scripture honestly, carry something into the week, come back and talk about what actually happened, and support one another with gentle accountability.
Retreat can deepen a practice. Community helps you live it. Homeward is meant to be that home base—a place to return to, whether you are just beginning or eventually want to go deeper.
That is why I’m starting Homeward.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Study. Practice. Ordinary life.
Homeward is new, and I think it matters that you know something about the person starting it.
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Practice
Decades of meditation, contemplation, retreats, monasteries, teachers, and communities.
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Ordinary life
I’m a husband, father, and business leader. Homeward is built for real life because that is where I need these practices too.
WHY I FEEL CALLED TO DO THIS
What I received, I want to pass on.
So much of what has shaped my life was freely given to me by teachers, mentors, retreat leaders, spiritual communities, and people who made space for me to learn.
Over time I began to feel that simply keeping all of that for myself would miss something important. The best way I know to honor the people who taught me is to pass forward what I can of what they gave me.
Homeward is one expression of that gratitude.
My hope is to open a doorway into practices that can sometimes feel hidden away in monasteries or retreat centers—and help people carry them into ordinary life.
Homeward is Jesus-centered, practice-centered, and built for honest conversation—not agreement on every question. Circles are currently offered at no cost.
The retreat centers, traditions, books, and teachers referenced here are part of my personal spiritual history. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement of Homeward.
IF SOMETHING HERE FEELS FAMILIAR
Start where you are.
Maybe your faith has changed. Maybe you have questions you haven’t known where to bring. Or maybe you simply want to experience God more deeply. You do not need to have the answers settled to begin.
Learn a practice.
Begin simply. No meditation experience required.
Practice with others.
Make room for honest conversation about what you notice and experience.
Carry it into daily life.
Take the practice into work, family, relationships, joy, difficulty, and ordinary days.