Our Director & The Story
For more than 30 years I have dreamed of a Sanctuary; a safe place for fellow believers to come and meet with God for restoration. The dream originally looked like a converted barn retreat surrounded by fields. Through many conversations, difficult life events and vocational changes, this dream has remained but has evolved into a much more mature vision.
I’ve been involved in ministry for over 40 yrs having served in various denominations and ministry capacities both in Ontario Canada, Illinois and now in Michigan. Academically, I completed a BTh pastoral care (Tyndale University, Toronto, ON); MA in Christian/Church Education (Calvin Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI) and a Ph.D in Educational Studies (TEDS, Chicago, IL). After completing the Doctorate in 2002, I began a 20 year career teaching Practical Theology. Since 2022, I’ve been providing Pastoral care for missionaries.
Working in various churches, with denominational offices, and parachurch organizations, I’ve learned much about people’s struggle in faith and how North American Christianity has faltered. It is not hard to miss the data surrounding many Christian leaders, missionaries, and laypeople burning out in faith. We have given ourselves to programs, opinions, and other allegiances only to find less faith in our lives. In a place like Grand Rapids where there were over 800 churches and more parachurch organizations, this struggle of faith has become very real.
Christians and Christian Leaders are everywhere but churches are failing, ministries are getting “complicated” and confused. Some Christians are imploding in faith and those once “called” to ministry are dropping out. People are looking for something more spiritually substantive..
In my own struggles, I fell into deeply troubling times; an extended season of the Dark Night. A friend of mine recommended a Spiritual Director. I listened to his advice and found a Spiritual Director who would help me redirect my attention back to my relationship with Jesus. This became a real turning point for my life with God.
My dream of The Sanctuary became more important.
I would go on to become a Spiritual Director accompanying others as they found fresh life in Christ. Since 2014, I began seeing how God was creating a movement of contemplative spirituality among many evangelical friends. I was not alone in being drawn to this kind of spiritual formation. Spiritual Retreat Centers were popping up all over the country to meet this need. People of various vocations are taking sabbaticals at retreat centers to address this need. As I spent time with people and attended many retreats myself, I discovered we were spending much money and time away from work and family. The question was: Were we really being sustained in faith-life afterward? We had a great retreat but, having sacrificed significant money and time from family and work, we would return to our normal burnout patterns. The good practices we learned stayed at the retreat center far away from home and work life. How could this be resolved?
Now is the time to create a Sanctuary: A space retreated from the many ideological pressures of our day. A place where simply spending sacred time with God in nature, in scripture, with art or a Spiritual Director becomes an accessible pattern of life. A pattern with less negative impact on work and family responsibilities. A person could come for an hour after work or as long as a full day leaving The Sanctuary knowing they have met with God. The Sanctuary at Grand Rapids becomes a space to reconnect with God at the core of our faith providing resilience for the disorientations of our day.
Now is the time for The Sanctuary at Grand Rapids.
Personally:
I have been married to Christine since 1986, and we have two incredible, adult daughters. They are both married. They have given us wonderful in-laws and three delightful granddaughters, all bringing us much joy. I enjoy gardening with Christine, fishing, canoeing, kayaking and sailing. Thanks to my daughter, I’ve taken up scuba diving and don’t get to do it enough. Christine and I love to host people, cook, and laugh at our chickens.
