I grew up in Portage, Indiana.  My family attended the local Assembly of God church.  When I was in middle school my family began attending the Church of God across town.  I was very involved in our youth ministry and soon felt called to ministry.  My senior year of high school I applied and was accepted to Taylor University in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  This is also the year I discovered MMA.  The next fall I began my studies in youth ministry and psychology.  The next summer I married my high school sweetheart.

The following fall we started working full-time as youth pastor at a small inner-city church Assemblies of God church and served there for almost 3 years.   I began hosting UFC parties in married student housing with any VHS I could track down!  We had a baby and moved to Terre Haute, Indiana to work at another A/G church as an assistant pastor. 

 We served there for three and a half years.  2 babies richer we moved to Kokomo, Indiana to work at another A/G church.   We worked with kids, youth and young adults.  For almost one year I was the only pastor on staff and had a tremendous increase in pastoral responsibilities.  We also started a young adult/college age ministry.  Naturally, the guys began having UFC parties.  Eventually we had to borrow a choir riser from the church to help accommodate the seating required!

 After 5 years at that church and 10+ years in traditional, full-time ministry, we knew it was time for us to be a part of something very different!  We knew it was going to be non-traditional, relationship based and missionary in nature.  We reconnected with some friends who were heading to Vegas to do a church plant.  It seemed exactly like the project we were called to do.  So, we did 40 days of fasting and prayer… packed up and moved to fabulous Las Vegas, NV to plant a church and be a part of a revolution! 

 We rounded up some friends and family to move out and join us. It was a bumpy start!  The organization that we were working with folded and the friends we were working with decided to pastor an existing A/G church here in Vegas.  We helped them out for about 6 months, but just knew that we were supposed to be doing something “different”.  

Well, we have been out here for 3 years now… we have formed RED ROCK HOUSE CHURCH and have a great core group.  We meet on Saturday nights, share a meal, worship, pray, share, study, etc.  We also host a UFC pay-per-view party each month which averages 40+ and has had over 60!  We use this event to meet new people and develop meaningful relationships.  I have had the opportunity to attend 2 UFC events, 1 WEC event, 1 TUF-N-UFF event, 5 or 6 weigh-ins, and the UFC fan expo.  Things are going very well!

The reason I am interested in FIGHT PASTOR is simple.  I am a pastor at heart and I am a huge MMA fan!  I never imagined these 2 things could be married!   Also, I live in Vegas.  I can’t imagine a better place in the entire world for this type of ministry.