Gerry Stolzfoos

Gerry teaches @ Master's Commission an extension of Valley Forge Christian College Church Planting Unit. This class is being taught in Gettysburg and Teen Challenge Rehrersburg.

Grew up "Beachy Amish" (got its name from its founding fathers) . Somehow during his childhood he came to realize that he grew up as one of the more weird people of the world. Whenever he tried to turn a subject to Jesus, the subjects usually turned to asking questions about why they are so weird.

He asked himself why he brought people to his church if all they did was turn away rejected later on. Suddenly he realized that he wanted to know where he could invite people to a place where people would feel accepted and loved.

He had a friend that asked him where he went to have fun. Gerry replied that he went to Church. And the guy couldn't believe it… eventually he was persuaded to go on the idea that he might get laid. He was saved the very first night he went.

Gerry thought the worship was terrible, the sermons were long and boring and seemed to last endlessly. The only reason he felt the church was any good was because of his friends that reached out to him in love and acceptance. He realized that the people at this church were inviting to everyone who came, it didn't matter what their background was or what they looked like.

So it appears that from what Gerry is saying here is that the key to someone feeling comfortable in attending a church is not a matter of what the worship is like, or the pastor, or the color of the carpet or anything of the sort. It’s the people and their love and genuine interest in accepting and receiving anyone who comes through the door.

His family went through a period of rejecting him from their family (Amish) when they realized that they were being entirely un-Christ-like. Gerry said that the Amish church is hostile to people. There was a reconciliation that came around to Gerry with his family where his father even made him the executor of his will because he felt that he could only push his other sons around.

Gerry had an unfortunate experience when he was a 29 year old youth pastor on the verge of becoming the senior pastor of his church. The church board had a meeting and didn’t think Gerry was mature enough to take over the church at his age. Essentially they served him compensation to plant a new church with severance and wished him well.

A Church in New Oxford found that Gerry was looking to plant a church and asked him if he'd be interested in planting a church with a few churches in their area. They said they prayed for someone like Gerry specifically and they invited him to a meeting. When he came to the meeting he found that they were Assemblies of God. Gerry backed out ready to leave letting them know that he didn't like anything about the A.G. They realized everything that Gerry didn't like in the A.G. was exactly the reason they felt God was calling Him to help them plant this church. They knew Gerry loved Jesus and that’s what would make the difference.

Gerry knew that he was somehow called to minister to people who have given up on the church, who have been hurt. The experiences of Gerry's past with the church was going to be an instrument to help him reach people who feel the church has ruined them.

I particularly enjoyed the story of the tattoo parlor and the one girl with all the piercings and tattoos and how the tattoo parlor was packed with people attending a bible study there. How the church eventually bought the tattoo parlor and kept it running by the first guy who got saved there. The shop is called "In The Blood: Tattoos & Rock N Roll.