Welcome
Each of us is called to live with purpose. And I feel so fortunate to be able to companion people as they seek this sense of purpose in the world.
Some people say we have a war problem or an income inequality problem or a refugee problem or an environmental problem. But these are not our problems. Our problems are indifference, greed, isolation, and fear. And these are spiritual problems and they require spiritual solutions. We can’t solve spiritual problems by being smarter. Instead, we must love more. The world needs more lovers. The world needs more people willing to fall hopelessly in love with Creation and then to be willing to share the good news of “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.”
I am looking to serve a community that wants to be those people. The lovers of Creation. People who live with heartbreak over what we see all around us, but who haven’t lost hope. People who believe that together we can make a difference. People who believe we can help the lonely and the isolated as well as the greedy and the indifferent.
Of course, we need a home to restore us, inspire us, and care for us. But I also believe we are needed in the world. We are needed not just as friends or advocates, but as chaplains. And church should be where you learn to be a chaplain for those who are suffering. Church should be the place that gives you the resources you need to help transform the world. This is what I do. I help guide people who are interested in exploring the spiritual journey so, together, we might see and live in a healthier, safer, more joyful world.
Thank you for taking the time to dig into what I have written and recorded. I wish you the very best in your process. I know how much work this is and the pressure of the responsibility you have been entrusted with. I hope you enjoy my website.
Peace, Ian
Mary Cinadr,
Original Blessing
Ian is one of three people who have significantly altered the direction of my life and the contours of my heart.
It’s tough to put Ian’s leadership into words. He covers the whole range of human emotions – from the serious and tragic to the playful and mischievous. In retrospect, because he doesn’t take himself too seriously, he is able to be self-deprecating and humorous, which helps us confront the confronting, sit with the uncomfortable, and open our hearts wider than we thought possible. There is something about who he is, how he greets us, hugs us, loves us, that makes me think that even with all the battles we have to fight (individually and collectively), the world is good and pure and joyful, and that it’s okay to admit we need one another.
It’s tough to describe this elixir of his, but we all became hooked on it. Ian is unapologetically daring and infinitely creative. The questions he poses (often vis a vis personal anecdotes as to not talk to down to us), nudge us towards our own inquiry. Ian bravely exposes and expresses his own brokenness so that we might confess our own and together we might love one another more deeply less fearfully.
It’s important to point out that Ian isn’t afraid to fail, which has since stood out as the most important mark of a true leader. How can we even begin to ponder the big questions like how to fill the special deficit of this country, of our own hearts, or heal our planet, or realize that there is a force in love with us even in our darkness, without taking risks? He pioneers new territory constantly, through creative worship, social justice, and community-building. And because of this, it’s very clear that he’d rather his message be heard then fit in. Ian’s in it to light your heart on fire, nothing else.
Ian helped me realize that I am a seeker and that I cannot seek alone. He helped me touch the core of my hunger to draw closer to source. He helped me realize that my hunger is natural—because the material world cannot satiate what the soul craves and the soul cannot feast alone. Ian is a community builder if I’ve ever known one. I don’t want to oversimplify his work. I see how much he lays down to bare to deliver his work in the world. He is the opposite of the sterile and removed leader who prepares his safe speech or sermon behind closed doors, delivers it and goes home. We get the sense that he is on a journey with us—that he is doing the work he does as much to help us in the world as to help himself.
Ian is undeniably human and utterly lovable. Once he leads your congregation you’ll know exactly what I mean.
