This is me

Welcome to my blog! My name is Tony Mitchell. I live in New York, and work as a chemical education consultant. While my blog has served primarily as a platform for my work as a lay servant/speaker in the United Methodist Church, I also post things that deal with chemistry, chemical education, and humorous items.

Two things that you have to know about me are:

1. I am Southern born and Southern bred and when I die I will be Southern dead. I was raised in the south but that doesn’t mean I bought into the traditions of the South. In fact, growing up in the South of the 1960’s led me to becoming a liberal. You cannot further your own life when you suppress someone else.
2. I was baptized an evangelical, I was confirmed an evangelical, and I am a evangelical Christian today. But I am not an evangelical that closes the doors of the church to others; I am not an evangelical who supports war or sees war as a means of presenting the Gospel message to the world; I am not one who has only compassion for the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the oppressed. To be an evangelical means to present the Gospel message of hope, justice, and freedom from oppression to the world. If that means taking action to relieve poverty, heal the sick, feed the hungry, house the homeless, give aid to the needy, and free the oppressed, so be it.

I am certainly not an evangelical who would seek to impose my views on others. I hope that what I present in these commentaries and the thoughts that I express will give you pause to think about who you are and where you are on your journey in life.

I hold a Ph. D. in Science Education with an emphasis in chemical education from University of Iowa and have two additional degrees from the University of Missouri (M. Ed. in Education) and Truman State University (B. S. in Chemistry). I also did graduate work at the University of Memphis.

I am presently a member of Fishkill United Methodist Church in Fishkill, NY. When I refer to my home church in the present tense, this is the church that I am referring to. I have been a certified lay speaker in the United Methodist Church since 1991 (see “Why I Am A Lay Speaker”).  I served as a lay pastor at various locations from 1995 to 2005.  Since 2005, I have served as a certified lay speaker in the New York/Connecticut District of the New York Annual Conference.

I have bowled in 36 consecutive ABC/USBC Open tournaments but whose counting? It has often been noted that there is a religious background to bowling (see the piece I wrote a few years ago, “Bowling and Church”) so there is a natural connection between the those areas of my life.

If you wish to get in touch with me, send an e-mail message to TonyMitchellPhD at optimum.net (you know, of course, to replace the “at” with “@”).

This is me