Bio:  Alex is the Associate Pastor for Youth and Children’s Ministry at Saugatuck Congregational Church in Westport, CT.  He was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up attending non-denominational, evangelical churches.  In high school began to feel a calling to ministry, which led him to pursue a B.A. in Theology and Philosophy from Southeastern Bible College in 2010 and a M.Div. from Yale Divinity School in 2013.  During his time at Southeastern and at Yale he has spoken, led worship, and served at churches from a variety of traditions and denominations, including Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Congregationalist.  Alex also regularly engages in freelance writing and web development for churches and other faith-based organizations.  For more information, see the “Freelance” page or contact Alex at alexanderpmarshall@gmail.com.

From Alex: Greetings!  I’m glad you have found your way here!

This blog is mostly about me thinking out loud, or thinking in writing, as the case may be.  Here you will find some of the things I have been thinking about, sometimes more fully baked and sometimes a little half-baked.  I hope you will enjoy what you find and that you’ll join in the conversation!

I believe very strongly that the Christian faith has powerful meaning for our world today and that this meaning is at the heart of the Christian tradition, pulsing through the very core of the Christian scriptures and theology.  My goal is to help others learn to articulate their faith for themselves and realize that, no matter who they are or what their background, everyone is welcome and invited to be part of this incredible, exciting, and ever-evolving, community that began 2000 years ago in a small Jewish village.

Since roughly my junior year of High School I have felt some sort of calling toward this vague concept known as ministry. I have not always known how to define that calling, and if I’m honest most of the time I still don’t, but what has always been clear to me is that whatever else this calling led me to do, I was called to teach.

In my undergraduate experience at Southeastern Bible College and my graduate work at Yale Divinity School I was challenged to engage with my own faith in a critical way, taking on difficult questions that I didn’t have easy answers to and learning to understand the way my own faith relates to the philosophical and historical/cultural traditions which have shaped the world we live in today. This often difficult process inspired a love of theological and philosophical study in me and awakened me personally to the importance of learning how to grapple with faith and articulate its meaning and significance for our own lives and situations.  Though this love of learning and studying is something I don’t think will ever go away, what I have learned over the past several years is that my chief passions are teaching and writing. And as I’ve learned this I’ve had the some amazing opportunities to work with youth and college age students around the country and the blessing of a growing web-based community at my blog (for which I am immensely thankful to all my readers).

In August of 2013 a new chapter began for my story as I started a position as the Associate Pastor for Youth and Children’s Ministries at Saugatuck Congregational Church.  Alongside this new position, I am beginning a formal ordination process with the United Church of Christ, which brings with it a whole host of new, exciting questions to reflect on as I discern the next step in my journey.  It’s been an awesome time thus far and I can’t wait to see how things continue to unfold. I hope you’ll join in the conversation here on the blog or at my Facebook page!

Please feel free to e-mail me at alexanderpmarshall@gmail.com with questions, requests, ideas for blog posts, guest post pitches, inquiries about freelance work, and anything else related to writing, teaching, youth and campus ministry, or the Christian faith.