Larry Schram’s call to ministry 35 years ago isn’t the kind normally expected from a pastor. In fact, he says he entered ministry entirely against his will. “I was dragged into it by the hand of God,” Larry says. It was in the early 80s during a catastrophic economic crash that sent interest rates through the roof and stalled the economy. Larry needed work, and First United Mennonite needed a pastor.
“They sought me out to come on staff. I hadn’t applied, I never really considered it. Because everyone knows that pastors are weird.” Word.
So he said no, but they came back a second time. “By that time I was desperate enough, and they were desperate enough, and God was gracious enough,” Larry says. “To this day I really don’t know why they recruited me. They saw something in me that I did not see.”
It took a couple of years to learn he loved it, and he soon realized there was nothing else he’d rather be doing.
“Getting a front row seat of seeing the Holy Spirit work in people’s lives. Just those holy moments of, you know, someone coming to faith in Christ, having the lights go on for someone and they’re able to take that step of transformation, seeing people move towards health and wholeness and healing. Those moments when people join their lives in marriage, parents standing up with a child that they want to dedicate to the Lord, sitting by the side of the bed when a saint gets ready to pass into glory. Those are moments—well, I’m starting to tear up here giving that list,” Larry says.
Stepping away from the front lines to become the regional minister is not without mixed feelings. “I loved pastoring. I loved those holy moments of pastoring, and I knew I would not have a lot of those in this role.”
But he’s excited for the new opportunity of encouraging and affirming pastors in the throes of ministry. “I do know that God has called us to this role, and I do get encourage people in those roles to remain faithful and stay the course. To be resilient where God has called them. That kind of thing really excites me,” Larry says.
“Jesus is always building his church. he is always building his people. He is always using them to build his kingdom. We just don’t always have the eyes to see and the hearts to believe, but, he is. I love being able to go into a church, and get some sense of what Jesus is doing in those people and affirming it, encouraging it, seeing it. That’s a powerful thing.”
Larry and his wife have relocated from Summerland to Surrey for this job, which he’s one month into. Wondering how you can pray for them? Pray along with Larry: “I am praying that I will be so full of the spirit with discernment that I will always be able to point people to Jesus, who is always standing with his people. Just to have the eyes to see and the joy to be able to remind people that Christ is with them.”
Welcome to the region, Larry!
This article was published in Volume 13, Issue 9 of Making Connections. Subscribe to the Making Connections monthly newsletter here