the doing was part of the apprenticeship, as I “did” alongside my mentors. This stage is described as “the height of the faith experience” (74), and involving more effort. “It seems to be an almost insatiable period because everything is going so well.” (74) At age thirteen, I started preaching in our church, at first irregularly on Sunday evenings, then more regularly, and eventually Sunday mornings, when my dad was gone. I went to Bible College at age sixteen, and was immediately involved in service in churches. By age nineteen, I was traveling around the U.S. as part of a drama team, but was also the designated “evangelist,” preaching every day in churches and schools. In college, I was involved in drama and music, church ministry, etc. Iin stage three. (107) However, I do see two elements that led me – at least in part – past this stage.

The first element, in 1990-95, was the influence of a mentor, my senior pastor in my first church after college. He challenged some of the fundamentalist rules, and encouraged us to fellowship with, pray with, and work with those outside our little camp. He also introduced me to a wider range of Christian experience. This led me on to stage four, where I began the journey inward. The second occurred much later, in 2007-2008, when I went through the wall. Looking back, I was living in stage three and four, concurrently, but a crisis initiated the wall.

Stage 4 The Journey Inward

Stage four is a “deep and very