What is your favorite thing about working at Montreat?
Hundreds of colleges across the country claim a Christian identity, but some of them do so only in the loosest sense that they were a Christian college 100 years ago. My favorite thing about working at Montreat is that it is actually and intentionally Christian and defines what it means in its Statement of Faith and Community Life Covenant.
What are your hobbies or interests?
I am fascinated by expository songs, where the main idea of a passage of Scripture is the main idea of the song. I run a website that is like a hymnal Scripture index, except that it covers all eras and genres of Christian music. Over the last 14 years, I’ve cataloged 80,000 song entries. I also write songs and have recorded a few.
Just about everything else is interesting, too. My RSS reader (yeah, I still use one), podcast subscriptions, and YouTube subscriptions cover topics like church history, the American presidents, Reformed theology, interview podcasts in any genre, escape rooms, baseball, Southern Gospel, modern hymns, ’80s CCM, learning Spanish, songwriting technique, storytelling technique, New Testament textual criticism, travel, travel competitions like The Amazing Race or Jet Lag, strategy competitions, Edgic, understanding YouTube’s algorithm, web design best practices, accessibility, search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization, logistics, and AI.
I’m also interested, to a perhaps unusual extent, in understanding what makes something fascinating. I’m not talking about something mildly interesting, but something so interesting that it creates a fandom. I love finding someone who’s obsessed with something new to me—vintage baseball, trains, barbershop quartets, obstacle course racing, or antique watches. It’s fascinating to understand what makes something fascinating.
Do you have a favorite restaurant in the area?
There was a really cool pink bakery in Black Mountain, near the fire station, whose baker was a fifth-generation New Orleans baker who’d retired to the mountains, but, unfortunately, it has since closed.
What is your favorite thing to do or see in the area?
Friends! My favorite natural wonders in the area are Chimney Rock, Looking Glass Falls, and our stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway.