Pastor Derek has been a church goer and a non-church goer his entire life! He has asked questions, struggled with faith, and run the gamut of belief and practice. Yet God’s steadfast love and powerful grace have encouraged him along the way and brought him home to the Lutheran Church.

 

Pastor Derek hails from New England (he misses snow), where he first was exposed to faith through the United Church of Christ. In college he experienced his call and went to Seminary at Union Theological Seminary in New York and completed field education at The Riverside Church. After seminary he continued his exploration of faith and church history in Ireland (Trinity College, Dublin). When he returned, he felt called to explore chaplaincy, serving for a few years in CPE programs as well as a trauma chaplain in Philadelphia. It was in chaplaincy that Pastor Derek felt called to pursue ordination in the ELCA, completing his Lutheran Year (Philadelphia) and his internship here at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Bethesda MD. In 2015 Pastor Derek was ordained and was called as Associate Pastor at Emmanuel, serving in that capacity until 2018, when he was called as Pastor at the retirement of his predecessor.

 

Pastor Derek emphasizes the importance of spiritual nourishment, advocating for individual and collective spiritual practices. Pastor Derek is an advocate for social justice and positive change. He believes that faith is a life-long journey of exploration and growing closer to God; and sees himself on that journey with members of the congregation.

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Pastor Derek is married, has two kids, a dog (Luke), and a bird (Theo). Together they enjoy hiking, reading and general family chaos. Pastor Derek enjoys history, reading, and physical activities including cycling, lifting weights, golf, basketball and tinkering on his project car.

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Pastor Derek looks forward to meeting you and sharing the love of Christ!