I am so sorry to have to write this, but Saturday, January 24, 2004, Tom was in a hit & run motorcycle accident.  He was instantly ushered into the presence of his LORD.  I, his wife of 30 years, am wanting all of you to know that he was doing something that he loved to do, riding his motorcycle in God's great outdoors.  There was NO pain or suffering on his part, but we are all left here hurting, with a huge hole to fill.  We would never want him back from the place where he is, worshipping together with the other saints that have gone on before us.  I thank the Lord for all of your prayers, they have been truly felt.  

Tom Rietveld  was a graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Since 1975, Tom served three large churches as Associate Pastor for Christian Education in Deerfield, Illinois; Wheaton, Illinois; and Scottsdale, Arizona. He also took time out from full-time "pastoral work" to serve for three years as Managing Editor of the Curriculum Division for Gospel Light Publications in Ventura, California.

For the past 12 years, Pastor Tom had served as a senior pastor in churches in California and Missouri.  In January of 2003, he accepted the call to serve as Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Bishop, CA.  He was serving in that position when he was killed.

Tom was married to his wife, Diane, since 1973. The Rietveld's only child, Jori, is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. Jori is  married to Brian Jacobs, and is living in Palm Springs, CA with their new daughter, Graceann Alana.  Their wedding pictures can be viewed by clicking wedding. The continuously updated pictures of this new addition can be viewed by clicking New Baby.

Pastor Tom had numerous articles published in Christian magazines such as Family Life Today, Evangelizing Today's Child, and The Vanguard. He was a co-author of a book on church growth, entitled, M.O.D.E.L Ministry Training Manual, published by Light and Life Press.

Pastor Tom was a member of The Last Chapter, a chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association (CMA) serving on the Prayer Team.

Hobbies:  Motorcycles (Christian Motorcyclists Association) & Woodworking.  (To see pictures of Pastor Tom in each of his activities, click on the underlined word) 

Most influential books, other than the Bible, I have read:

• KNOWING GOD, by J. I. Packer;
• EXPERIENCING GOD, by Henry Blackaby;
• MERE CHRISTIANITY, by C. S. Lewis.
  

FAVORITE SCRIPTURE VERSE: John 3:16

FAVORITE QUOTE:

"It is my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my fate, that I run my own life, call my own shots, go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can't go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can't ultimately rely on myself. I'm dependent on God for my next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I am anything but a man~ small, weak, and limited. So, living independent of God is self-delusion. It is not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue; it's my inner psychological integrity that's at stake. When I'm conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself. And that is the national religion of Hell!"
~ Howard Butt, The Art of Being a Big Shot.