Fred you got to be an elder? man, i never made it that far. i usually was the one to run against the incubant deacon/board member. i played along with the ruse as long as i got to play dress up christianity so i would seemingly be accepted by "normal" folk.
i was once allowed to be a part(or is that apart) of the pastor search committe. i think i lost ground with my"peers" in this conservitive pentecostal church when i said i believed that the day of the shout was no longer relevant and we needed to too look for a teaching pastor. for the rest of my time at that church i was never asked to run again, never asked my opinion, never asked to speak.
it wasn't as if i were asking to sacrifice a goat, or filling the baptismal with jello. i wanted, and still do, to be taught. discipleship is such a foriegn concept to most churches. pastors seem to be more concerned with numbers than with the state of their sheep's souls.
on a more positive note: we have found a more progressive church in our area. thatt is no small feat when considering the size of our community(8000 people)
sometimes one voice is too much, other times it's not enough.

peace,
chuck