I am a recent PhD graduate in theology, with a background as both a writer (tech and Christian spheres) and a professional project editor (as well as the occasional freelance project). I am looking to establish a more regular freelance editing business to supplement my other obligations. I have taught English at the college level, as well as hermeneutics, theology, and world religions. I truly enjoy engaging the writing of others, learning from them and using my own expertise to help their projects become the best versions of themselves.
I have taken a round-about path to get where I am, working in areas as diverse as a warehouse, inside sales, tech support, tech writer (training materials on technical topics), college admissions, marketing, magazine editor, and youth pastor.
My BA is in linguistics, and language has been a theme in my life. Throughout my studies, I have regularly returned to studying how we communicate with one another. Born from my study of linguistics has been the twin passions for understanding culture and questions of epistemology–how do the disparate areas of human enquiry form knowledge, and how does culture play a role in these? I also have a Master of Divinity, which is a professional degree (like doctor or lawyer) focused on preparing someone to work in a church or parachurch setting.
More important than all of this, I am married to Susanne, and we have two beautiful, energetic daughters, Eliana (4) and Eloise (2).
A Theologian Editor?
Why trust a theologian with your project? Theology, as the study of God and God’s relation to the world, interacts with every other area of human enquiry. That means that I have dabbled in most of the soft sciences and some of the hard ones. My interests in and knowledge of a diverse set of fields means that, while you are the expert in your field and I (probably) am not, I can read and edit your work from the position of your ideal reader: an educated individual who wants to learn from the expertise of your study.
“But I am not religious. Is your religiosity going to influence your feedback?” In short, no, it will not influence the content of my feedback. Whether I agree with someone or not, my job is to make their presentation to be the best version of itself. This is a strong value of mine. When teaching a course on world religions, I laid out my expectations to the students very clearly: know what you believe and treat those who believe and/or practice differently than you with respect. As a researcher, that means doing my best to describe others well and fully. As an editor, that means supporting the personal goals of the writer and not the editor. In the rare case that I cannot work on a project because of a moral difference–say it supports racism or sexual assault–then I will turn down the project beforehand.