It's definitely not a blog.

This is maybe just my personal opinion, but there's something tacky about a pastor having a blog. You talk for too long on Sunday mornings, but now you think you have more that people would need to hear? No, I do not.

I'm making this website mostly for myself. There's something quaint about owning a corner of the internet that just kind of delights me. On it's own, that's been enough of a reason for me to put a couple hours into making this site. And, at the same time, maybe there's something worth sharing here.

There's this article by a developer who goes by Swyx that has stuck with me for a while now. In it, he encourages the reader to "Learn in Public." Don't worry about crafting great, share-worthy content or making everything nice and neat. Instead, create "learning exhaust" as you go about the work that you do. Create small things, not taking an exorbitant amount of time to do so, but just something. "Make the thing you wish you had found when you were learning." It might help no one else. You might be sharing my work just for yourself. Or maybe there's one person who might benefit from the work that you've done and the "exhaust" you've created.

Using this website and especially the "Without Authority" publication linked on the homepage, I am going to "work in public." As I work throughout the week in preparation for the various public tasks I've been called to do as pastor--Sermon prep, teaching lessons, short essays where I simply collect my thoughts on a topic I'm learning about (nothing private/personal will ever make its way into this space)--I'll share what I'm doing. The goal is not that I waste my time doing more or different work, but that I work with the garage door up. Since everything I post here will be work that I'm doing anyway, I might as well share it.

I don't think that what I share here will be all that special or insightful. There's a chance that none of what I write will be helpful to you or to anyone else! It might only be helpful to me to put my own thoughts in writing.

Or, maybe you'll be helpful to me.

I'm writing these notes using a service called leaflet. It's a bit technical, but it incorporates a new idea for what the internet could look like called the social web. The rationale behind choosing a platform like this is that this doesn't need to be a one-way street. Leaflet will allow you to participate, if you'd like to! You can make an account on Bluesky--one of the main social media sites for this new frontier of the social web--and you will be able to reply to my leaflet posts, ask questions, respond to my questions, or whatever else you might want to do with my posts on the "Without Authority" feed.

At the same time, I recognize that using a niche platform like this will be strange and too technical for many people who might read this, and I don't want the platform to be a barrier to conversation. So, I will re-post just about everything to more mainstream platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc., where people can join the discussion using the tools you already have at your disposal.

However you end up reading and interacting or ignoring and scrolling, thanks for taking the time to read this and being a part of my pastoral process!

p.s. if you'd like to learn more about the Social Web, I'll link below a few articles you could use a starting point into the rabbit hole.

This page is a reflection of where my life is at a particular point in time. Inspired by nownownow.com.

Livonia, Michigan. Associate Pastor at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church.

Personally: Spending time with my wife and daughters. Did a cruise back in May and we're due for another vacation soon...

Professionally: Making this website! Also, aiding our great Youth ministry volunteers at COS, preaching a few times a month, and teaching:

7th and 8th grade Catechism

New Member Class

9-week class on the theology of the Nicene Creed

"The Tapestry of Preaching" by David Schmitt.

{Work in in progress... I'll update this soon(ish)}