Our Story

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Grace and peace to you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord!  Anglican Worship Equippers (AWE) did not arise in a vacuum; my own journey of faith has shaped it. As the Executive Director of AWE, I would like to share how this ministry began. 

I was baptized and raised in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I served as an altar boy, attended Lutheran schools, and was encouraged to consider a future in Christian service. Although I drifted far from my faith during my teens and early twenties while pursuing a business career,  the Lord, in His mercy, called me back through the witness of a missionary from Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). In 1980, my wife, Glorianne, and I—together with our children—responded to God's call to missionary service by joining Cru's ministry in Washington, D.C. There we helped to equip churches for evangelism and discipleship, led a staff team, and ministered to people from many nations and diverse backgrounds. This experience deepened our love for the Gospel's power to transform lives across cultures.

During this season I began to study the missiology of worship—how worship both fuels and fulfills the mission of God. In that study I encountered the striking words of A. W. Tozer: “Worship is the missing jewel of the evangelical church.” Those words ignited in me a lifelong quest to equip the saints to restore the biblical, historical, and missional dimensions of Christian worship. This calling led me to transition from Cru into further theological studies, church planting with the Christian & Missionary Alliance, and an itinerant ministry teaching at churches, retreats, and conferences on worship renewal.

In the 1990s, while ministering at a “three streams” Episcopal (now Anglican) church in Northern Virginia, I experienced the Anglican liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer—a return to my own Lutheran liturgical roots. The awe-filled reverence, beauty, and richness of that worship encounter deeply moved me. Later, guided by Robert Webber’s Ancient-Future Worship writings and strengthened by friendships formed along the Canterbury Trail, I discovered the Anglican Way of Worship—rooted in Scripture, enlivened by the Spirit, nourished by the Sacraments, shaped by the creeds, and grounded in the continuity of the early Church.

In 1996, I founded Worship Equippers for Christ to help implement the vision that I believed God was placing in my heart for future ministry, which included enlisting a network of "worship equippers" to share their ministry gifts with the body of Christ.   Within a few years, I became a postulant for Holy Orders. I was ordained as a Deacon (2002) and then as a Missionary Priest (2003) in the  International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC), where I helped to provide pastoral support for various parishes while continuing my itinerant ministry through Worship Equippers. 

By 2011, the Lord provided an opportunity to serve within the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) while continuing to lead Worship Equippers. Out of this journey, Anglican Worship Equippers (AWE) was birthed to help equip  RESTORE the AWE of worship that is:

• Rooted in the Anglican Tradition
• Established in the Authority of Holy Scripture
• Sacramentally Nourished through Word and Table
• Transformed by the Power of the Holy Spirit
• Ordered by the Liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer
• Reconciled Across Generations, Cultures, and Traditions
• Engaged in the Great Commission
   

I believe this is a kairos moment—a Spirit-appointed time for the Church to return to the ancient paths and walk forward in oneness, holiness, and power. Gen Z and Millennials, in particular, are longing for depth. Many are weary of consumer-driven, entertainment-oriented worship. They are seeking authenticity, reverence, and connection to something larger than themselves. The Anglican Way of Worship, shaped by the Book of Common Prayer, offers them just that: roots that anchor them in Scripture, Spirit, and Sacrament, rhythms that shape their daily lives, and a global community grounded in the ancient Christian Faith that has sustained believers for over two millennia. 

It would be my joy and privilege to learn more about your church or ministry and explore how we might partner together in equipping God's people for worship and the work of the ministry. 

May our risen and soon-coming Lord Jesus Christ grant us grace to walk in the ancient paths, so that His Church may be renewed in worship, reconciled in love, and mobilized in mission until He returns. Maranatha!

Your servant in Christ,
Dean+