Josh grew up in the Midwest before completing a B.A. in Theatre at Northwestern College [IA] and a Masters of Divinity [M.Div.] at Princeton Theological Seminary [NJ]. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ [UCC], Josh has lived and worked in the Midwest, East Coast, Hawai’i, and Mexico. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Welcome Project PA, host of the Bucks-Mont PRIDE Festival, and he is Pastor of Love In Action UCC, an open and affirming congregation featured in a Vox Media episode of Divided States of Women with Liz Plank and in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Josh has 20+ years of nonprofit experience, including leading workshops and training in corporate, medical, and academic settings, focused on diversity & inclusion, grant writing, fund raising, and program management. Josh is a fellow of Interfaith Philadelphia, and designs and coordinates HS and University student groups for interfaith immersion service-learning weeks. Josh also co-facilitates Ally trainings for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and interfaith cooperation. He is a founding member of The Society for Faith & Justice, and a Collaborator for Nurturing Justice, and a member of the Driving PA Forward team via New Sanctuary Movement. He also performs regularly with the dinner theatre company, Without a Cue Productions, and has developed theatre arts curriculum for use in religious and secular settings. Josh also enjoys running, singing, traveling, learning languages, or making strange and funny faces. He lives in Center City Philly.
Psalm 84:1-4; 10 Friends, what comes to mind when you hear the word refuge? What sorts of images fill your head? Feelings you have? Feel free to write them in the comments section. The Book of Psalms, Hebrew תְּהִלִּים or תהילים, or Tehillim (praises), is the first book of the Ketuvim [Writings), in the 3rd […]
Psalm 34:1-8;18, John 6:51 Okay, do me a favor. Open your mouth and say “ah…” Go look in the mirror. You have taste buds. You know, those sensory organs on your tongue that allow you to experience tastes that are sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. See the bumps on your tongue? Those are called […]
John 6:35-37; 48-51 So here’s the thing—bread is a universal food. Now it varies, of course. Some people eat wheat-based bread of all shapes and sizes. You’ve probably tried that at some point in your life—a flaky croissant, a baguette, an Italian loaf, even a doughnut. And even if you’re gluten intolerant, you have options. […]
John 13:33-35 Someone who loves a neighbor allows them to be as they are, as they were, and as they will be. -Michel Quoist You can be a follower of Muhammad or Jesus or Buddha or whomever. Always, they said that the most essential factor is to love your neighbor and to love you. -Leo […]
Mark 5:24b-34 I would like to ask you a question. Simple, but it may seem the opposite. What is faith? Sure, perhaps you are thinking: Really? What is faith? Now that’s a loaded question. Are you referring to some kind of religious faith, or a faith in God or Jesus or Mohammad, or Buddha, or […]
Mark 4:35-41 I got behind on my blog posts. Sorry ’bout that! But I’m back…hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! Do you like rainstorms? Do you appreciate the pattering sounds of raindrops impacting the roof or the ground or the windows or the top of your umbrella? Do you marvel at the dark clouds […]
I Corinthians 13 Love is patient, love is kind… You’ve probably heard this text before. Weddings? Yeah. Not gonna lie—it’s a bit overused. And misused. So let’s discuss, no? I Corinthians is Paul of Tarsus’ first letter to a faith community in Corinth. Is it relevant? That depends on how deep you’re willing to go. […]
If you consider yourself a Christian and you’re reading this, welcome. I hope you continue reading. If you are not a Christian, welcome. I really hope you keep reading too. The thing is, Christianity looks pretty bad right now, in many ways. Racism, prejudice against immigrants, LGBTQIA exclusion and marginalization, belittling of women, support of […]
John 15:9-15 Question of the day: Who do you feel safe with? Do you have people in your life who make you feel safe? What I mean by that, in this moment is—do you have people who make you feel at ease, that you can be silly, raw, honest, ridiculous, crazy you? These would be […]
John 15:1, 5; I John 4:7-8, 11-13, 18 Imagery of the natural world—metaphors that are living things—often speak to us in powerful ways. I think you’ll agree that being compared to a tree is much more agreeable and full of possibilities than being compared to another person or a material thing like a car. In […]