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Reflections upon my Christian Service
My background and education place me in a relatively rare position in the church world, given my combination of theological training and business training. My ministerial credentials and background allow me to interact with pastors on their level, while my business training allows  me to provide expertise in leadership and administration, as well as relate well to business people. At the same time, my ministerial credentials prohibit me from holding "lay" leadership positions within a local church; thus I have been prevented (perhaps mercifully) from serving on church boards. I have often found myself serving in ministries that support but transcend the local church, especially those related to learning—such as Teen Bible Quiz and Junior Bible Quiz. I have also found myself serving as a counselor/consultant to pastors concerning leadership, administrative, financial, and communication issues.
I have been blessed to work with pastors that have not been threatened by having an ordained minister as a member of their churches. This has allowed me to become a friend and co-worker to these pastors. The results of these friendships have been positive, which is why you will find several of my former pastors included in my references.
I have also been blessed to be able to serve for several periods of time in interim pastor roles. Helping congregations move successfully through pastoral searches has been fulfilling.
Of course, one of my major forms of Christian service has been teaching. Much of our teaching ministry in the past several years has been to young couples and to college students. My wife and I feel a need to help others to move successfully along the path of life. We have seen many of those we teach mature in the Christian life.
Perhaps the largest frustration is finding time to serve in all the ways that we could. One of the challenges of the Christian life is being led by God's Spirit (Romans 8:14) rather than by the needs of people. There's no way that we can meet every need, and is comforting to know that we're not supposed to—we're to be obedient to God, and to serve where He wants us to serve. There's a great fulfillment in doing what God want you to do.
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