Michael was born on August 12th , 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama. Soon after, Michael’s family moved back to his mother’s hometown of Anniston.

Michael’s home church is the St. Mark United Methodist Church in Anniston.  Not only was St. Mark where he learned about Jesus and the importance of faith.  St. Mark is also where he met my his wife, Wendy.  Wendy and Michael were married on March 5th , 1994.  Today, Michael and Wendy have two children. Their son, Nicholas, works as an engineer for the USDA in Palm Beach County, Florida, while their daughter, Caroline, lives at home with them.

Michael’s path to ordained ministry was a rather long and convoluted journey. After high school, Michael enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. While attending college at Jacksonville State University, Michael worked as a lifeguard, and as the manager of retail golf shop. After graduation, Michael worked in a chemical plant, a plating and machine shop, and as a reporter for a commercial construction news service.

Despite the fact that Michael knew I was being called to ministry for eight or nine years before he was able to answer that call, and despite the fact that several of the jobs he held in the meantime were anything but fulfilling, and despite the fact that he had quite a few pastors over the years who encouraged him along the way, it wasn’t until April of 1995 that he was finally able to say yes to his call!

In June of 1996, Michael took an appointment as a Student Local Pastor at the Spring Garden and Union Grove United Methodist Churches.  That fall he entered the Candler School of Theology on the campus of Emory University, from whence he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in May of 1999. After satisfying all the requirements for ordination, he was ordained as an Elder in 2001.  In 2006, Michael began classes on the campus of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC.  He received his Doctor of Ministry degree in May of 2009.

Michael and his family arrived in Piedmont to serve Piedmont First United Methodist Church in July of 2022.

Michael now tells anyone who will listen that as intimidating as the very idea of the call to ordained ministry was for him when he was younger, these days he finds ministry to be exciting and fulfilling, and he cannot wait to see what God has in store for Piedmont First United Methodist Church!