Jeremiah joined us a pastoral resident in early 2017. We liked him so much, we hired him as our Director of Spiritual Formation at the end of 2018. Jeremiah is assisting Matt with planning events and teaching on Sunday. He helps the youth staff with some projects and even takes some time to teach our students. If you’ve read any of the Daily Devotionals that accompany our sermon series, you know that Jeremiah is an excellent writer. He is a great addition to our staff.
What is your favorite book (outside of the Bible)? Why?
I feel like its a pastoral cliche to list anything by C.S. Lewis, but I’m a huge fan of his writing, especially the Narnia series. I grew up reading and re-reading those books, and they will always have a special place on my bookshelf.
However, I’m going to say that my favorite book is Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. Its a story about a small town pastor as he reflects back on his life, his struggles, and the family he has. I first read it in seminary, and I’ve re-read it several times since then.
Dog or cat? Why?
I’ll say dog, because the cat I had growing up would steal food off your plate if you turned around. Not in a fun, light-hearted, way either, but in a fight or flight kind of way. That cat would steal your food and then stare at you until you broke eye contact or he charged you.
Dogs are so much better. They’re always happy to see you, always ready to have a party, and can learn to do almost anything. I’ll take the happy, trainable, kind animal, and not the ball of teeth and claws any day.
I’m not ruling out the possibility of a cat. We’d have to be talking about one charming cat though.