Chandler grew up in Senegal.[11] He studied at Wheaton College, where he majored in theological studies (B.A. 1986), and also at Chichester Theological College (a Church of England institution) in England. He was the director of international programs with IBS Publishing. He then worked as rector of St. George's Episcopal Church in Tunis/Carthage, the only English-speaking church in Tunisia, and was Chaplain to the British Embassy. He then was U.S. CEO of IBS Publishing.[12] Later, he was president/CEO of Partners International.[13]
Between 2003-2013, he was the Rector of St. John's Church (Maadi) in Cairo, Egypt[14] and Director of the East-West Center for Peace. While in Cairo, he founded CARAVAN Arts,[15] an international non-profit/NGO that is focused on using the arts to build bridges between cultures and spiritual traditions.[1] He also served as Rector of the Church of the Epiphany and chairman of the Anglican Centre in Doha, Qatar.[8]
Chandler's book on Kahlil Gibran, the best-selling Lebanese born poet-artist and author of The Prophet, is In Search of a Prophet: A Spiritual Journey with Kahlil Gibran (Rowman & Littlefield).[17] He is also the author of a book on Muslim-Christian relations titled Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths (Rowman & Littlefield) that focuses on the life and thought of Mazhar Mallouhi, the Syrian Arab novelist and “Sufi Muslim follower of Christ”.[18] His first book was God’s Global Mosaic, What We Can Learn from Christians Around the World (InterVarsity Press/IVP, 2000).[19] Chandler is also the author of Songs In Waiting: Spiritual Reflections on Christ's Birth...A Celebration of Middle Eastern Canticles (Morehouse Publishing, 2009).[20]
