I grew up in Iowa and discovered science fiction in junior high. It took me about a year to exhaust the interesting material in the public library. As an adult I settled on alternate history as my favorite form of science fiction so the 1632verse was a natural attraction.

Professionally I attended Central Bible College receiving a BA in Bible. Following a time as a youth pastor in a German District church, I enrolled in Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and completed a Master of Divinity. For the next dozen years I was a senior pastor in rural Missouri churches. The first church was in open country. The second church was in a town but the county was so rural that it did not even have a yellow caution light where the two highways met. I transferred from there to Assemblies of God US Missions in the mid 1990’s and now teach pastoral preparation classes in South Dakota. As a teacher I was encouraged to obtain a terminal degree so I went back to the seminary and completed a Doctor of Ministry. My D.Min. project focused on applying missionary theory to an existing missionary enterprise and involved the history of the field, missionary theory, fieldwork, and evaluation.

My personal life revolves around my wife of over 25 years and my children. Living far from major libraries has caused me to accumulate a fair sized library of both fiction and especially nonfiction books for my teaching. Teaching is not only my job but also, a source of joy in my life. Some people have to work—I get to teach! While in Missouri I was able to act out history and teach by portraying a circuit rider from the 1820’s at black powder shoots.