How God Called Me to Ministry
My call to ministry occurred over a period of time, and others recognized it long before I did.
After Mitzi and I met Christ, we began to attend the Chapel of the Hills - the same little church in which I'd grown up. I served there first as a musician, then a Sunday School teacher, soon as an elder and eventually a pastor. Our tenure was over twenty years; we served until November of 2001, when God called us to Cedar Hills EFC.
In 1984, the elders with whom I labored in Oregon became increasingly convinced that God was working through me; they began a 10 year process to free me from the daily workplace, allowing me to serve the church more and more. (I was an office manager by trade, but throughout those years I also traveled throughout the Northwest as a Christian musician.) In 1995, the elders ordained me into full time ministry, but the changes had been so incremental that this step seemed very natural. The congregation confirmed the elders' recommendation with a unanimous vote of confidence. My friend and Pastor Mike Whisner had a profound influence on me throughout this time.
Throughout the '90's, God visited spiritual renewal and steady growth upon our church. Our affiliation of churches, the American Missionary Fellowship, had been carefully observing the pattern, since we were now the 2nd largest AMF church in the nation. I'd already been helping dozens of churches grow in their worship, but in 2000, AMF formally commissioned Mitzi and I to serve as Worship Development Missionaries. The leadership of the Chapel (now known as the Church on the Mountain) was our sending church and base of operations; I maintained our flagship Saturday night services, leading outreach teams on Sunday morning. My regular features in Worship Leader Magazine grew into a book with Kregal Publishing around this time, and I was serving as an adjunct instructor at Mt. Hood Community College. Looking back, I'm not sure how it all fit into a standard 24-hour day.
While the call to serve in the Northwest had been a slowly building crescendo, the call to Cedar Hills Evangelical Free Church was more of a thunderclap. June 22nd, 2001, the Lord spoke to my heart and indicated I would be entering a new season of ministry. Given the fruitful work we were doing, I was puzzled, but we were obedient to what we understood.
A single resume went to Cedar Hills Evangelical Free (CHEF) Church and the candidacy process was swift and simple. On September 10th, 80 days after God had spoken, the congregation at CHEF confirmed the elders' recommendation with a 98% vote of confidence.
Next November, we'll celebrate our 6th Thanksgiving at CHEF. Our hearts have been knit to this wonderful church family and it's very clear that God indeed led us here to serve. Dr. Randy Scheil is a world-class teacher of the Word and a fine leader; he's assembled a terrific staff and leadership team at CHEF. We're excited about this season of life, and experiencing a time of personal growth.
Updated 2006
