CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACKET - Ryan Fields

How might ministry colleagues characterize your conflict resolution skills, and abilities at building consensus? I think my colleagues would say they have witnessed my strong intuitions about when and how leadership needs to be provided amidst conflict and my default to consensus building as a leadership style. I think they would also commend my tendency to lean into the wisdom and resources of other leaders (especially elders) rather than “going it alone” amidst conflict situations. I think they would characterize me as having a proclivity toward delegation and being a team player, which helps in building consensus. They would say that they have seen my conviction that true leadership is always servant leadership play out in coming alongside of others and patiently working with them until we come to a common vision about how to proceed. What are your special interests and hobbies? Besides pastoral ministry and theology, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, camping, outdoor adventures (e.g. my wife and I aspire to seeing all of America's national parks over the course of our marriage, Lord willing), planning date nights for my wife and me, staying fit (running with my girls is often what you will catch me doing at the end of the work day or on weekends), watching a good movie that I can discuss with my wife and good friends, and learning the particular history of the place in which I live (among other things). My desire is to serve the church in two ways. Primarily I seek to serve the local church that I'm a pastor of, making sure that my priority is always feeding that flock with the Word of God, praying for it to become more like Christ, and caring for it in all the tangible ways that pastors should. Secondarily, I aspire to serve the broader church through occasional opportunities to preach/teach at other churches or ministry conferences and to publish things that will build up the whole Body of Christ. I particularly hope that I could invest in the next generation of pastors by teaching them (in the local church and perhaps also occasionally in a seminary context) about the joys and challenges of pastoral ministry and sharing with them a theological vision for ministry. I do hope in the future to be involved with groups like the Center for Pastor Theologians (they have cohorts of pastor-theologians that meet annually), and perhaps also to serve the EFCA in a more specific way. But I do not have any current commitments to speak of (beyond completing my PhD dissertation), and I would always put my own local church first, consulting with the elders and gaining their approval before taking on any additional ministry opportunities. Describe the place that worship should have in the church service? Worship is one way to summarize the entire purpose of the entire Christian life and even the cosmos (Psalm 19:1-6, Matt. 4:10, Rom. 11:33-36, 1 Cor. 15:28, Phil 2:9-11, 1 Tim. 1:17, Rev. 4:11). Worship is the proper response to the glory of God exhibited most clearly in the gospel of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 4:23-24, Rom. 1:16-17, 2 Cor. 4:6, Heb. 12:28). A Christian’s life of worship should consist of both individual and corporate expressions, exhibiting a constant tandem of worship “gathered” (Acts 2:42-47, 1 Cor. 11:33, Would you need special considerations because of involvement with other organizations or because of writing or speaking commitments? If so, please describe:

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