My Ministry Background
I think that all through my childhood I sensed a special calling of God to ministry of some kind. However, I confused this calling with the need for a crisis experience that I thought would fill the longing deep within me. I remember early in my life playing with my father's tape recorder, pretending to give sermons. I also recall at about nine or ten years of age delivering at least one, and probably several, sermons to my parents at home. Perhaps a year or two later my uncle--the pastor of a United Methodist church--asked me to give a message at his church's vacation Bible school, which was my first public sermon. Soon afterward, a spiritual leader gave a "prophecy" which stated that I was called into the ministry. At the time many present thought that would be pastoral ministry, and indeed I did receive ministerial training as part of my education at Spring Arbor College, but only once did I actually serve in a full-time pastoral role. Most of my ministry has been with college students and in church educational ministry.
When I was 14, my interest in radio and electronics--along with the encouragement of friends of my family--resulted in my volunteering on weekends for a nearby religious radio station. I learned to give short messages of spiritual encouragement and challenge, as well as do the other activities required for radio work. Sometimes I would do double and triple shifts because of my love for radio, as well as the ministry involved. During high school my role at the radio station expanded, especially during the summer and holidays. While in college I was given the task of being the news director and eventually became the program director. After graduating from college, I served as the acting manager of the station and was offered the full manager's role. I turned this down because I decided to go to graduate school, related to my developing interest in teaching in higher education.
While in high school I recall teaching a children's Sunday school class at church, and enjoying that activity a great deal. During my first year of college--at Moody Bible Institute--I did my practical Christian work assignment at a children's home in north Chicago, which sensitized me to the emotional as well as spiritual needs of at-risk children. I also did some teaching of small groups during college, including volunteer work at an inner city coffeehouse in Michigan. Several other times in my life I have led, or co-led, small discipleship groups. Over the years I have taught at every level of church ministry, including several months in the nursery with my wife, as well as teaching preschoolers, school-aged children, functionally serving as a youth pastor (albeit without the official title), and teaching classes of adults of all ages.
In preparation for missionary work, I was ordained in a small denomination of which my grandfather was a member in the early 1900s--the Christian Nation Church. For a year I was a missionary teacher at a tiny school in the tropical rainforest of Dominica in the Caribbean, often preaching and doing evangelism on the weekends with my students. After returning to the U.S., I served as the Director of Christian Education of an American Baptist Church in Ohio for a year or so. While teaching at the college level in Georgia, I was the interim pastor of the Southern Baptist church for one year, as the church searched for a new pastor. I was an elder for many years as we attended a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. In addition I served on the music ministry team at that church as well as an Assemblies of God church. My wife and I have led Passover seders occasionally, as well as taught series of presentations on the Jewish holidays from a Christian perspective. We once led a pastoral retreat on the topic for a denominational group.
Another area of ministry is through a conference on children's spirituality, for which I serve on the leadership team and manage the web page. I occasionally have the opportunity to speak on children's spiritual development at colleges, seminaries, and churches, and also see my web pages on children's spirituality and ministry research as a form of ministry. I volunteered at a rural children's home in Kentucky, and did inner city rescue mission work with kids in Los Angeles.
Perhaps the most common form of ministry I have is ministering to students. While devotionals and sometimes entire topics in class could be considered ministry, I especially prize small group and individual ministry with students in my home or office. I am thankful for the many ways God has used me in ministry, and I know that He deserves all of the credit for what has been accomplished through those efforts. I thank Him for that early call to ministry, and the ways he has confirmed that calling over the years!
--Don Ratcliff