Throughout his adult life, Tobey has served in various ministerial and program director capacities in churches across CT. At Church of Christ Congregational in Newington, CT, he worked closely with ministry leaders and volunteers to strengthen church programming and develop sustainable outreach initiatives including partnering with local organizations, supporting ministry boards, and contributing to worship life through preaching, youth leadership, visitation, and special events.

Tobey spent seven years at Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, first as Youth Director and later as Director of Early Life Ministries. In that role he helped reshape youth and family ministries to foster belonging, spiritual wellness, service, and leadership development while deepening volunteer engagement and strengthening the church’s support of children, teens, and parents.

His church leadership experience also extends to pastoral ministry as youth pastor, associate pastor, and church planter in CT and MA. Tobey holds a Master of Arts in Interfaith Action from Claremont Lincoln University, where his studies focused on collaboration, conflict transformation, religious literacy, and justice-oriented leadership.

Outside of church life, Tobey finds renewal in simple practices that bring people together. A former barista, he still enjoys crafting a good cup of coffee and the conversations that tend to gather around it. Time in nature—among trees and trails, along the New England coastline, or around a firepit under the moon and stars—is another steady source of restoration. At home he enjoys playing drums and percussion with his son Sam and cheering on the creative building projects of his sons Caleb and Micah. He believes deeply in the power of music and shared song to create community, nurture healing, and connect people more deeply with one another and with God.