About Rex
Work rooted in community, research, and contemplative practice.
My life and work have been shaped by a simple, persistent question:
How do people find belonging, meaning, and hope – especially when the landscape of life feels uncertain or is shifting beneath their feet.
The church has been both a place of refuge and a source of deep grief in my life. I’ve experienced its capacity to nurture, heal, and hold people through loss – and I’ve witnessed the harm that comes when fear, exclusion, or rigidity take root. My work grows out of loving the church enough to tell the truth about it, embracing the beauty inherent in faith communities, and imagining what it might become.
Research & Leadership
Over the past two decades my work has taken shape through research, nonprofit leadership, teaching, and organizational consulting.
My work with churches and mission-driven organizations is grounded in deep listening and both qualitative and quantitative research, including large-scale studies on church engagement, belonging, and spiritual formation among younger adults.
I’ve served in senior nonprofit leadership roles, taught at the university level, and partnered with congregations and organizations navigating significant change. I hold a Ph.D. in organization development, and I’m especially interested in how trust is built, or lost, and how communities adapt and grow.
Contemplative Formation
Alongside research and leadership work, contemplative practice has been a steady grounding force in my life.
I draw from Christian contemplative traditions, as well as wisdom from interfaith sources, with a deep respect for embodied spiritual practice and faith in action.
Stations of the Heart emerged from this formation – a creative offering designed to support inner work, healing, and spiritual attentiveness in a loud and disorienting world.
Why This Work Matters Now
We are living through a time of profound disconnection – socially, spiritually, and institutionally.
Many churches are struggling. Many leaders are tired. Many people are quietly hungry for meaning but unsure where to turn.
I believe the work of this moment is not to grasp for relevance or control, but to cultivate honesty, belonging, and depth. My hope is to support communities and individuals who want to move more slowly, more truthfully, and more lovingly into whatever comes next.
I’d be glad to be in conversation with you.
