Embedded Files
About Pastor Justin:
Early Life & Education | 1975 – 1994
Born in Arizona in April 1975 and later based in California, Justin developed an early interest in human behavior, ethics, and organizational systems. He pursued his education at Ottawa University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Human Services, laying the academic foundation for his early corporate career and supportive care work. Go Braves! In 1994 Ekklesia Iwiga was founded.
Former Corporate Leadership | 1994 – 2018 (Past Career)
Before his transition into full-time ecclesiastical ministry, Justin built a 24-year corporate career as an Organizational Psychologist and Human Resources Executive. Operating at institutional levels across companies such as MCI, Safeway, ASML, and Zenith Insurance, he specialized in managing corporate Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), workforce conflict resolution, talent development, and workplace diversity initiatives.
Diaconal Ordination & Ecclesiastical Chaplaincy | 2012
Justin received the Sacred Order of the Diaconate (conferring the first degree of Holy Orders). He earned board certification as an Ecclesiastical Healthcare Chaplain, dedicating his ordained ministry to acute hospital pastoral care, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed counseling.
Trial by Fire: Diagnosis, Paralysis & Resilience | 2013 – 2015
Between 2013 and 2015, Justin’s life was abruptly reshaped by a terrifying medical crisis. Beginning with sudden onset paralysis, he was initially diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). What followed was a grueling two-year ordeal involving 15 hospitalizations, intensive diagnostic testing, exhausting physical rehabilitation, and severe relapses. In 2015, specialists officially re-diagnosed his condition as Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) Navigating paralysis and learning to live with a rare neuromuscular disease refined his resilience and laid the foundation for his personal advocacy.
Spiritual Formation & Virtual Sanctuary | 2016 – 2018
In 2016, Pastor Justin completed an intensive season of advanced theological formation, earning his Master of Divinity in Pastoral Care alongside a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) with a focus on moral theology, social ethics, and Catholic social teaching. During this period, he also earned a diploma in Transformational Life Coaching from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts and co-founded the virtual outreach of Ekklesia Iwiga to create an inclusive, non-judgmental digital sanctuary.
Ordination to the Priesthood | 2017
On February 17, 2017, Fr. Justin was ordained to the priesthood.
"I prostrated myself aware of my nothingness and I got up a priest."
Doctoral Formation | 2018
Bridging organizational psychology, systemic ethics, and spiritual direction, Justin earned his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Psychology with a focus on Pastoral Care in 2018. His doctoral research focused on the intersections of institutional dynamics, human suffering, and holistic accompaniment.
Medical Relapse & Retirement | March 2018 – Present
Following a severe, life-threatening clinical relapse of CIDP resulting in ICU admission, Fr. Justin was forced to make a permanent, total stop to his corporate career, active clinical practice, and physical ministry on March 3, 2018. Entering full medical retirement, he stepped away from all formal employment and institutional duties to manage the daily realities of progressive chronic illness.
Current Posture & Medical Retirement
Living in complete medical retirement, Justin spends his days managing the daily physical realities of progressive CIDP. On an informal, unscheduled basis, and strictly as his physical energy permits, he occasionally shares raw personal reflections, lived experience with rare neuromuscular disease, and quiet encouragement with peers in the chronic illness community.
Rooted in the catholic truth tu es sacerdos in aeternum ("you are a priest forever"), priesthood is an indelible identity, not an occupation. While severe physical limitations have permanently ended his active corporate career, clinical practice, and capacity for employment, the heart of a priest remains: showing up not through formal duties, structured consulting, or scheduled ministry, but through quiet prayer, archived wisdom, and uncompensated solidarity with those in the storm.
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