As a child of Latin American immigrants, I grew up in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, in the southwest corner of this country. Sixteen years ago I moved from California to North Carolina. For the past fourteen years I’ve been the pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship. I was elected to the executive board of Mennonite Church USA, where I served from 2013-2015. I’m currently a member of the governing board of the NC Council of Churches, where I’ll serve as the president of the board from 2021-2023.
My writing life has led to my appointment as a contributing editor at The Christian Century magazine and to the editorial committee for The Anabaptist Witness journal. I write regularly as a columnist for The Christian Century and Anabaptist World magazines, and I have pieces appear from time to time in Ruminate Magazine, Scalawag, Commonweal, Sojourners, Faith & Leadership, Conrad Grebel Review, The Mennonite World Review, and The Mennonite Magazine.
The Associated Church Press presented me with their first place Award of Excellence for theological writing in 2018, an Award of Merit in 2019, and the Award of Excellence for Photography in 2019. For the past two years I’ve been a jury member for the VanderMey Nonfiction Prize at Ruminate Magazine.
Over the years I’ve received two research grants from The Louisville Institute for writing projects: “Gifts of Unity” in 2010, and “Remembering the Dead in the Borderlands” in 2020.
Peer Review Essays
- “The Ecclesial Ethics of John H. Yoder’s Abuse,” Modern Theology (May 2020)
- “Then Solomon Took a Census of All the Aliens,” Religions (March 2019)
Book
Presence: Giving and Receiving God, coauthor (Cascade, 2011)