Welcome. We’re glad you have dropped by. First we thought we’d give a little introduction into who I (Rev. Joel) am, then a bit about how this blog came about and were we are headed (it’s out of the virtual harbor, but we might change course as the winds and tides dictate).
About Rev. Joel
One of my great loves is the sea and the shore and exploring by boats. During college, I had an opportunity during January to take a different sort of class. The college held a January Term – one class for the month. The spring semester started in February. These January classes were set-up as intensive 3 to 4 week courses. Sure, there were some “normal” sorts of classes to meet your requirements. But each student was really encouraged to take at least two different sorts of classes. For instance, my roommate went to Trinidad and Tobago to study Religion, Sociology, Politics and Archeology. One of the Biology professors taught fly-fishing as a way to monitor stream/river habitat. And I took a sea-kayaking class titled “The Spirituality of the Sea and the Shore.” It was a perfect fit (even though we didn’t go sailing).
If one of my great loves is the sea and shore and being out upon the water, the other is the calling to pastoral ministry. I’m an ordained United Methodist pastor who has served three churches in North-Central Idaho, two churches in Eastern Washington, worked as an Executive Director of Rural Ministry Resources (who works with the UMC, the Presbyterian USA, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on rural church and community issues), and recently at the Executive Director/Chaplain for Winds of Grace.
Having felt called (on and off) for some time to perhaps go back into parish ministry, in 2021 I accepted an appointment (or what other denominations might refer to as a “call”) back into the parish. I’m now serving a local church near where we have been living. We are still living aboard our sailboat. But it means that this blog might change direction once again.
I love the water, but I also love to see how the Divine is at work in the lives of people and their stories.
Winds of Grace
Feeling called to live into the dream to serving people who lived and re-created upon their boats, I (with the help of some friends) started Wind of Grace, Inc. in 2007-2008.
You can read about our ministry – Winds of Grace – by clicking on the hyperlink.
This brought my family to the greater Salish Sea, where we started living aboard our sailboat. In trying to stay in touch with those who had come through our marina and were off again, I started a blog under the Winds of Grace name. We reached a point where that blog stopped. Over time, I might pull some of that older content into this one.
Theo∙Boat∙ology
This is a chance to start blogging again under a new name. A re-boot you might say.
At the moment, there are some blog posts about various subjects – many of them religion (Theo) based, but a few of them boat based, too. And I’ve decided to re-post many of my Instagram art posts.
Thanks for visiting! Hope you enjoy.
Blessed Be,
Rev. Joel
Update (July 2021)
Now that I’m back to serving a local parish, I would imagine that this blog is going to change. But I’m not sure how. We’ll just have to see. Currently, I’m finding myself busy trying to meet people and catching-up on the day to day activities of parish life. I hope to be back to writing before too long.