You could say that 's initial thoughts of service were launched with his 13-year stint as a United States Navy officer, begun during the Vietnam conflict. He has since served the public as a Christian Science practitioner and teacher for many years, plus a three-year term as First Reader of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. But even during his time in the Navy, Tim says his concept of service was expanding outward and upward—from serving others in an honorable mission to serving God. "As I grew in my understanding of God, I knew that I had to put God first, and that there could not be an intermediary between God and myself—that I also had to honor.
"As I began to understand that more deeply," Tim says, "it came time to resign from the Navy, and I had an interim position with a small corporation here in Washington, DC, for about six months. That step basically sealed the feeling that I needed to put God first. I knew I needed to spend all of my moments finding the truth about God and His creation. The public practice of Christian Science was the only way I knew that would allow me to do that. So I took Christian Science class instruction, A 12-lesson course about God and His creation that includes instruction on spiritual healing utilizing this understanding . and immediately went into the practice at the end of class.
"More and more, I began to realize that the appearance of the practice, and eventually of people asking for help through the practice, was an effect — that I still thirsted after an understanding of God. The more that understanding of God dawned upon me, the more there were calls asking for help with many of the very same things that were being healed within me as I grew to understand my spiritual identity."
