My Biography
I began working as a drug and alcohol counselor in 1978 after completing a Masters degree in counseling that same year at the University of Pittsburgh. I have worked for several different treatment centers, both inpatient and outpatient. I made a commitment to Christ eighteen months after I began my working as a counselor, so my spiritual growth and my professional career as a therapist matured together.
After reading a book in the late 1980s on the beginnings of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) entitled Pass It On, I felt a calling to return to school to write a dissertation on the influences of Christian spirituality upon A.A., and the spiritual, religious distinction made in the Twelve Steps. My first educational stop was at Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) in Philadelphia to get some graduate level theological training before I attempted to write my dissertation. After being exposed to the thought of Cornelius Van Til, Westminster was the only seminary I seriously considered.
While in Philadelphia in the early 1990s, I became familiar with the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) and took several counseling classes taught by CCEF staff members at WTS. I then worked briefly there as a part time counselor.
When I completed a Masters of Arts in Religion (MAR) degree at Westminster, I enrolled in Oxford Graduate School, located in Crystal Springs Tennessee. I returned to my hometown of Pittsburgh and worked in a Borders Bookstore while I completed my dissertation: The Distinction of Spiritual and Religious within Alcoholics Anonymous. Borders Books and Music was a great place to work; and I thought of it as my primary library while I wrote my dissertation. I completed my D.Phil. degree at Oxford Graduate School in 1999.
I remained living in the Pittsburgh area, where I had become a member of Covenant Community PCA, a theologically conservative Presbyterian church in Wexford PA. I have served as a ruling elder in the church for several years. I also taught a course on Biblical Counseling for over ten years as an adjunct Instructor at Grove City College. I am currently the director of Anselm Ministries, a teaching ministry of Covenant Community and I now counsel with Christian Counseling Associates. Faith Seeking Understanding is the website for the ministry.