And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Eric recently received his Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. His research focused on the identity of the Holy Spirit in Paul. Prior to his doctoral work, Eric was the Lead Pastor and co-founder of Mack Avenue Community Church in inner-city Detroit, Michigan, which is a church Eric planted in 2007, where he was the Lead Pastor until 2018. Eric is also a graduate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he earned his Master of Divinity. He graduated from Miami University-Ohio with a Bachelor of Science in Business Operations. Eric and his wife Sara have been married since 2003. They are the parents of five children – Connor (14), Joel (14), Lauren (12), Eli (11), Carter (8).
Eric grew up in inner-city Cleveland. Eric came to know the Lord during his freshman year of college at Miami University in Ohio through Campus Crusade for Christ, which is now called Cru. After graduating from college, Eric worked full-time with Cru at Michigan State University and then at Cru headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Eric went on for further training at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity. While in seminary, Eric and Sara met and married, and the Lord gave them an excitement for serving God together. After seminary, Eric and Sara spent a year as missionaries in Uganda and two years serving with a church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Then, in spring of 2007 they moved to inner-city Detroit where they planted a church, and Eric pastored Mack Avenue Community Church in Detroit, Michigan for the next twelve years.
Eric also founded MACC Development which was established by Mack Avenue Community Church as a non-profit organization seeking the holistic revitalization of the 48214 community, block by block, neighbor by neighbor. MACC Development shares the gospel through serving the low-income community through four different units: legal services, housing development, literacy, and sports. Eric is also a published author and gifted speaker. You can find his book, Discipleship Defined at http://www.discipleshipdefined.com/.