Once, when I was nine or ten, my Sunday school class was studying the Sermon on the Mount. I became fascinated with the idea of “not letting the right hand know what the left is doing.” How does that work in practice? I snuck out the side door of our auditorium with a trash bag I had quietly taken from the church pantry, and I began to pick up trash in the narrow walkway that separated our church from a used car lot. I wondered how my right hand could not know what my left was doing—they have to coordinate! Deciding that I wasn’t going to crack that one, I resolved to just keep my trash collection a secret from everyone else. And then, to my horror, a church member slipped out the side door, noticed me standing there blushing with my trash bag, and asked me what I was up to. I explained my project, and he promised that my secret was safe with him. “Maybe,” I thought, “but my cover is still blown.”

My value to the church where I grew up wasn’t based solely on my acts of service, secret or otherwise. They devoted themselves to my spiritual formation because I was Randy and Kay’s kid and because they loved me as I was when I couldn’t contribute much—even if I had a bit of a “holy fool” streak at a young age.

Of course, evidence of service is rightly part of a tenure and promotion portfolio, though I still feel a little uncomfortable ensuring that “the right hand knows what the left is doing.” Not that I have wanted my service to the university, department, guild, church, and community to be unnoticed or unknown—quite the opposite! It’s just a little awkward to make sure no one overlooks it. I believe I’ve offered valuable service in all of these areas, and in this section of my portfolio, I offer concrete evidence and reflection on my service. 

Next page: Service to the Department