By Laura Folkwein
One of my friends from seminary – we met over 20 years ago, which on its own is hard to imagine – has been reflecting on his ministry journey. He moved to Denver to attend Iliff School of Theology from LA, where he had been a comedian for twenty-five years. He says he was scared to death to make the career change into ministry, but he trusted God, his family, and himself to some extent, and for the past twenty years has been doing work he loves (and is particularly good at, if you ask me). He says, if you are considering a life change, do it. “Trust that God can dream bigger than you.”
His name is Rev. Jerry Herships. He’s on YouTube doing GodTalk regularly, and in person at Applewood Valley UMC in Golden, Colorado. Jerry’s the real deal. He has led church in bars and gathered people together (often in bars) to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to share with other people who were experiencing homelessness in City Park in Denver, along with Communion and clean socks and long johns when needed. He has gathered people together to raise funds for first and last month’s rent on new apartments and to help folks pay medical bills. He also served a church in the resort community of Aspen, Colorado, before going to Golden.
I’m telling you Jerry’s story because he is a friend who I relate to and look up to, and his stories often teach me things I need to hear, right when I need to hear them. Like, “Trust that God can dream bigger than you.”
I don’t know about you, but I find myself underestimating God, or the power of the universe, more often than I’d like to admit. When the daily news is full of tragedy and frustration, it is hard to imagine oneself taking big risks with career or love, or new ways of communicating. I really admire people like Jerry who do it anyway. They seem to be the ones who, in changing themselves, also change the rest of us, and maybe even the whole world. Seems like something God would be into, doesn’t it?