After experiencing a Christian "conversion of sorts" (I never quite know how to refer to that experience!) when I was 17, I started writing songs that were expressive of the insights and joy I was experiencing as a new follower of Jesus, and this music ministry of mine has been unfolding one way or another pretty much ever since. I write and share songs that somehow offer snapshots of thoughts or feelings or experiences I've had as a person who is trying to take the life and teachings of Christ to heart. 

As far as credentials go, I am an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and I served as pastor of two small UCC congregations in northern Wisconsin for almost 4 years (1983-1987). I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University with a degree in Religion and a concentrated study in Psychology in 1980 and then got my M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary in Jan., 1984. I was a pastor of two small churches in northern Wisconsin, and then lived in Three Lakes, WI for the first 6 years of my music ministry. In 1993 my family and I moved to Madison, WI, and I've been in Madison ever since.

I've traveled extensively since 1987 offering concerts, leading worship services and retreats, and offering keynote addresses at various regional and national conferences. I've also worked extensively with grass roots organizations among the poorest of the poor in Haiti since 1991. I've written many songs that have been born out of my experiences in Haiti, and you'll find them on quite a few of my CDs. I am a founding member and leader of an organization called Haiti Allies www.haitiallies.org. Haiti Allies supports education, meal programs, and job creation in Haiti, and we also bring groups to Haiti twice a year.

In 2015 I joined forces with well known author Brian McLaren and Rev. Cameron Trimble of the Center for Progressive Renewal in Atlanta to form a new worship music company called The Convergence Music Project (CMP). CMP is an all digital source of music and liturgical resources for worship that reflect the kind of progressive theology and world view that I wrote about in my book. CMP launched officially during the summer of 2016, and I am the CEO of this new startup.