I am seeking a full-time position within a dynamic, growing church as a Pastor or Director of: Small Groups, Single Adults, Divorce Recovery, Assimilation or Network ("SHAPE"). I have a proven track record and am ready for professional ministry. Click here to download a comprehesive temperament style assessment designed by MinistryKeys (a division of PeopleKeys) to determine my suitability to serve as a Small Groups Pastor/Director.  According to MinistryKeys, I am a perfect match.

Here are some of the things that make up my "SHAPE"

Spiritual Gifts

Leadership Style

According to Bill Hybels' book, Courageous Leadership, I display both “team building”
and “shepherding” styles of leadership, a tad more of the former. 

Hybels says: "Leaders gifted as team builders may or may not be skilled at managing their teams.  In fact, many of them reason that management isn't all that critical anyway; if the right people are in the right slots doing the right things for the right reasons, these people will accomplish their goal whether or not there is someone looking over their shoulders."

Although I have been credited with being a skilled manager, one of the most satisfying aspects of my ministries has been equipping “the right people [to serve] in the right places for the right reasons.”  Having worked for and studied under Bruce Bugbee, president of Network Ministries International, has had a profound impact on me.
 
Passions

I have a passion for helping hurting people, underdogs and those of fragile faith to discover who they are in Christ and to mentor them to spiritual maturity.  While I think I've been uniquely equipped to disciple single adults, I get a real charge out of helping people of any age or life-stage figure out how God has wired them up.

I also have a major league passion for music.  I like listening to it, dancing to it, singing or clapping or tapping along to it, AND using it as a teaching tool.  I write contemporary Christian songs crafted primarily for the purpose of amplifying sermons and/or group discussions.  Whereas most great contemporary Christian songs target the heart, mine tend to target the head and make people think.  You will probably never hear one of my songs on a "WOW" CD, but I've been told they aren't bad.  School is still out as to whether I am a "gifted" songwriter, but I will continue to explore the possibility.  Here are two songs you can download and play if you have Windows Media Player on your computer:  Don't Let Them Stumble and He Said Forgive Them.

Theology

I was baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian Church, but grew up un-churched.  Oddly enough, my theology has turned out to be pretty Reformed.  On the other hand, I am by no means a "Hyper-Calvinist." (I mention that because a senior pastor once asked me if I was one upon hearing that I had worked in a PCA church for a while.) I was also baptized by immersion as an adult believer in a non-denominational church. 

For a quick look at what  books I've read over the last few years, click here or on the "Recent Reading" tab to the left.

Methodology

Having taken 15+ years as an adult to decide whether Jesus was who He claimed to be, I communicate effectively with nonbelievers.  I have a real soft spot in my heart for Christians who underestimate their faith and spirituality.  I don't have much patience for “Christianeze.”

I am probably most at home in creative, contemporary, seeker-sensitive environments, but I'll take good preaching over cutting-edge-trappings every time.  I like being around rock-solid teaching communicated in every-day-language and to hear tough questions tackled from the pulpit.  (One of my favorite questions these days is "How is it possible to square the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 with "real science"?")  I like Sunday morning programs that weave together complementary elements around a cogent message.  PS: Despite having worked only in contemporary churches, my wife and I both thoroughly appreciate and enjoy traditional worship as well.

Personality and Temperament

According to Myers-Briggs I am an INTJ one day and an INFJ on another depending on what I ate for breakfast.  According to Network’s style assessment, I am People/Structured, but every time I retake the test, I move farther in the direction of Unstructured.  According to Dr. John Trent, I am a Beaver/Retriever.  Plenty of Lion there too, but I don’t have very much Otter in me at all.  I need to work on being a little more spontaneous.  I have a Melancholy temperament. 

I recently took a temperament/style assessment created by MinistryKeys, a company I found at the ChurchStaffing.com website. With the exception of one or two descriptors that simply didn't apply, I'd say this analysis describes me fairly well.  Click here to download the report.

Ordination

Though I managed to complete two years of graduate school, I do not hold a seminary degree.  None-the-less, the board and pastors of Sand Canyon Church ordained me a Minister of the Gospel in 1996. Somewhat ironically, several months later we affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) which, of course, did not recognize the ordination.  While I understand that other churches may not recognize it either, I take the responsibilities that go with the title quite seriously. 

Personal Stuff

I believe my mixture of secular and church staff experience has prepared me to help the hurting back on their feet, as well as to inspire and equip them for their life-long ministries.

Life unfolds in stages.  Included in mine have been two divorces, coming to Christ as an adult and being recruited for His service at a time I felt absolutely incapable of it.  I have been a 1) nonbeliever married to a nonbeliever, 2) a believer married to a nonbeliever who abandoned the marriage (I believe I can document the abandonment to your satisfaction), and 3) a believer married to a believer.  While some who are as theologically conservative as I am might conclude that I do not qualify to serve in leadership or as a pastor, most with whom I have conferred believe I do.

I have been married to my wonderful wife Bonnie, whom I met while serving in singles ministry, for twelve years.  Bonnie accepted Christ as her Savior at age 10 and lost her first husband to cancer.  Her primary Spiritual Gifts are Hospitality and Helps.  By trade, she is an executive secretary who supports at the Senior VP, President, CEO level of a major corporation.  Over the years, her direct support and service to my ministries has been invaluable.  I am blessed indeed that she has chosen to walk this road with me.

I serve as a living testimony to God's mercy and unconditional love and, along with Bonnie, am acting on the faith He has provided. Neither of us will forget what we have learned along the way to this stage of life and are ready to use our experiences to assist others develop fruitful and fulfilling relationships with Jesus Christ.

I have a 35-year old daughter named Lara from my first marriage.  She became an attorney in 1997 and a Christian in 1999. (What are the odds of her doing them in that order?) It is one of the great privileges of my life to have participated in the process that led to her decision.