Covenant Hospice
Knoxville, Tennessee 37909
865-909-5171

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Bible from Mid Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City, North Carolina; Master's of Arts in Religion from Cincinnati Christian University in Cincinnati, OH
• Experience: Served as preaching minister from 1995 to 2016; serving as hospice chaplain since September 2016; Serving as a preaching minister from 2022 to present
• Comment to those looking at my sermons: I don’t have a lot of time to edit my sermons. Most of them are just copies of my notes. If something doesn’t make sense, it probably did to me when I preached it. Also, don’t overanalize my sermon notes. I know that they are probably not homolitically sound, but I was trained to be a youth minister originally.
• One of my favorite illustrations: A holier than thou woman attended church every Sunday. Everytime that she shook the preacher’s hand on the way out the door she would say, "You really gave it to them this morning, preacher!" One Sunday morning there was a snow storm and no one came to the service except this woman and the preacher. The preacher thought to himself, "This is my opportunity!" And so he started to preach on gossip and any other sin this woman committed that the preacher knew about. When this woman shook the pr
• Family: My wife, Crystal, and I have been married since June 27, 1998. I grew up near Indianapolis, Indiana and have lived and ministered in North Carolina ,Virginia, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio and now Tennessee. My wife Crystal grew up near Charlotte, North Carolina. Crystal is part of a preacher’s family. On March 8, 2000 we welcomed twin boys into our family- Alexander and Andy. We know that the Lord has a sense of humor because we welcomed another set of twins- Zach and Zane on April 2, 2004.
• What my parents think of my sermons: I don’t know, they haven’t heard too many of them. The ones they have heard they have appreciated.
• What my spouse (really) thinks of my sermons: She thinks they are fine. However, she wishes that I would quit bugging her about how they were. Since taking the hospice chaplaincy ministry I preach less so I hope she enjoys it more when I preach (here's hoping anyway)
• Best advice given to me about preaching: Think of being a guest in a family home and visiting in the living room. Preach to people like you would talk to people in their living room. You might get excited in someone’s living room; you might get upset in someone’s living room; you might get frustrated in someone’s living room; you might get loud in someone’s living room; you might get happy in someone’s living room. However, you will never act like a red faced lunatic who yells for 30 minutes in someone’s living room because they wil
• Books that have had an impact: Dr. Lynn Anderson: They Smell Like Sheep; Rick Warren: The Purpose-Driven Church; The Holy Bible
• Hobbies: Basketball; reading (mainly history); playing board games; fishing; collecting coins; traveling; hiking
• If I could Preach one more time, I would say...: To Christians I would preach on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. They are my favorite verses and they give me direction for each day. To unbelievers I would preach on 1 Corinthians 15.
• Something funny that happened while preaching: During my college years for practical ministries I had to preach in local congregations. On the second sermon that I ever preached, a man sat down on the second row at quite a distance from everyone else. It was a Sunday evening service so the faithful few were there. At the first sentence that come out of my mouth this gentleman in the second row fell asleep and started to breath heavy. I quit preaching after 7 to 8 minutes because I thought I was so boring! After the service some people c
• What I want on my tombstone: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances