DEACON - CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACKET - Ryan Fields

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Married (wife Emily, and three young girls - Penelope, Amelie, Madeline ).

Share how you make family a priority: Amidst current callings to serve the church, to study in preparation for further service to God's people, to be a laborer who exhibits a God-honoring work ethic, and to be a citizen of integrity (among others), I am convinced that the most central and stable calling the Lord has given to me is to be a godly and loving husband and father. This calling involves a covenant commitment of utter importance, one to be lived out on a daily basis. It means that my number one relational priority each day is to care for my wife and love my children, dying to self for their sake and seeking to point them to Christ in all things. Tangibly what this looks like in this season involves: 1. for my wife, organizing my day so that I do the best I can to spend quality time with her and to help her in caring for our children (especially at the hours of the day where that is the hardest!), and 2. for my daughters, being intentional to be with them (play with them, listen to them, encourage them) and to help them become disciples of Christ (by doing morning catechism, Bible memory, reading Scripture, singing hymns before bed, praying with them at meals and other times, taking advantage of 'teachable moments', etc.) . Wife's training and major interests: My wife is a woman of many gifts and talents. Her formal training is in social work (she has her MSW from Loyola Chicago), and she served as an academic advisor at the University of Illinois (Chicago) for several years before we got married. At the church I served as an associate pastor once we were married, she served as a deacon overseeing care and compassion ministry, beautifully leveraging her social work background, empathetic heart, and gifts of service and compassion to care for the vulnerable and marginalized in our church and the broader Gainesville community. Her day- to-day work right now is caring for our three daughters (and amidst Covid-19 that means overseeing the education of our six year old while caring for our three year old and our infant!) to free me up to focus on studies and tutoring. She also works a few hours a week as an administrative assistant for a speech therapy group in town. Her interests include (among other things): hospitality, cooking/baking, camping, outdoor adventures, finding awesome activities for our kids, and tracking down a quality show or movie on Netflix. How would you characterize your marriage relationship? Very Strong

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