Serving in Marin: Stories from the Life of a Process Server

Process serving is the business; the era is the early 1980s; the locale is the San Francisco Bay Area, but most of the work is done in now famous Marin County. The author is the process server, a Baptist minister who left the ministry temporarily, as a consequence of a divorce, after fourteen years serving churches. At first, the author found the lowly job of process serving humiliating and embarrassing, not to mention scary. However, as time passed, the author gained confidence and new understandings about himself and life. The author settled into a job he began to thoroughly enjoy. Traveling through the beauties of Marin in his little white Toyota Tercel, he spread joy and happiness to thousands. The minister/server encounters deadbeats, people trapped in terrible fixes, cheats, crooks, evaders and seductive women up and down the streets and mud paths of chic and wealthy Marin.

Others encountered in the stories besides the persons who are served are the business partner, Terry, an old pro and private investigator, Vernon, the server's son, and Lisa, the second wife. Some of the three dozen short episodes are humorous while others have a sad twist to them. All the events are real life events that have happened to real people. There is no continuous thread that runs through the short stories except for the thinking and personality of the server. Occasionally, the server reflects on the realities of life that can only be gathered in a few brief moments when a would-be defendant opens a door and is confronted by a process server.

Kent Philpott, pastor of Miller Avenue Baptist Church in Mill Valley, California, which is a small church in a small town, dually aligned with American Baptists and Southern Baptists. Owner of Earthen Vessel Media, involved in both publishing and long-running community TV shows, with chief editor Katie Philpott, his wife. Published author since 1974. Long time volunteer at San Quentin State Prison for 30 years, 17 of these as manager of the baseball team. Long time high school baseball coach in Marin County. The original Hippie preacher in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury District, 1967-1972. Graduate of Sacramento State University (BA in Psychology); Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Mill Valley (MDiv); San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo (DMin). Five children, eight grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. Politically moderate, theologically Reformed since 1995, about a 4.5 pointer on the Calvin scale. He is a San Francisco Giants, Oakland As, and San Francisco 49ers football fan. Essentially, Kent is a Gospel preacher and Bible teacher. Who knows when he will retire from the pastorate at Miller Avenue and loves publishing and writing books on all manner of topics. Despite all of the above, the events described in this book about serving in Marin happened during a two-year period when Kent was between pastorate jobs.