Pastor Jerry Norrells Sharpens Pulpit Messages at Mississippi College

Pastor Jerry Norrells, a senior at Mississippi College, is pictured outside Provine Chapel. MC's oldest building serves as headquarters of the Department of Christian Studies & Philosophy.

Mississippi College students admire their soft-spoken classmate on the Clinton campus they call “Mr. Jerry.”

Members of St. Luke United Methodist Church know him as Pastor Jerry Norrells, the man with a gentle spirit and leader of their small congregation in Waynesboro.

“Pastor Norrells is a strong leader with a servant’s heart,” says church member Shondra R. Turner. “His pastoral teaching skills are amazing. He teaches with conviction and skill,” she said. “One can see he disciplines himself to spend time with God.”

At age 51, Norrells is among a growing crop of non-traditional students of the nearly 18 million undergraduates across the USA. In 2011, just under 30 percent of the nation’s collegians are in the 18 to 24-year-old traditional age group, reports show.

A former Mississippi welder, Norrells left that line of work at Kuhlman Electric in 1997 after more than a decade when God called him into the ministry.

The 1982 Hazlehurst High graduate also made a major life change when he resumed his studies at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in 2008. He earned his Co-Lin degree in 2010.

“I stayed out of school for over 25 years. But once you get back in, it’s not as hard as you think.”

Baptist-affiliated Mississippi College welcomed the minister with open arms, and he’s been pleased with the reception since arriving on the Clinton campus. “Everyone here is very supportive.”

On track to graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and minor in Christian Studies, the Mississippi pastor is seeing the results of his MC education. He notices the difference when preaching on Sundays, and so does the congregation.

“My Christian Studies helps me prepare for sermons,” he says. “I have learned how to prepare sermons the proper way.”

He often ponders his upcoming message when taking the two-hour drive from his home in Hazlehurst to the church in Waynesboro. That’s a 115-mile trip one-way.

One of his recent sermons focused on the topic of church “back sliders,” as he quoted verses from Proverbs 14. In his three-point message, Norrells prays that these men and women refrain from sin and turn to righteousness.

Whatever the Hazlehurst native is doing at church, it’s working.

“The messages Pastor Norrells brings are always practical, always relevant and always delivered in a manner that makes it easy for people to understand,” Shondra Turner says. “I believe he truly loves his people and communicates that love to them. He tries to make a positive difference in people’s lives.”

Wayne VanHorn, dean of the School of Christian Studies and the Arts, is delighted to have Norrells and other non-traditional students in his upper level Bible classes.

“They bring a real world perspective to the discussion of Biblical themes,” he said. “The traditional students have treated our older students with respect and seem genuinely interested in what they have to say.”

As full-time pastor of a church with 30 to 40 regular members and as many as 75 people sitting in the pews on occasion, Norrells must do it all. He shakes hands with all church-goers, conducts Bible study, visits the sick in hospitals, presides at funerals and much more. There’s no staff to assist him.

The work is a far cry from pastors like Joel Osteen and Charles Stanley who preside at nationally televised megachurches and travel extensively to preach.

But Norrells sees advantages for pastors at tiny community churches who make eye contact with the congregation. “You get to know everyone, and they can learn to trust you,” he said. “They respect you as a pastor when they see you.”

Besides his MC studies and 45 hours per week devoted to church duties, Jerry Norrells spends quality time with his family. He and his wife, Eleanor, a pharmacy technician, are the parents of a 14-year-old daughter, J’Kyra. The Copiah County couple have a 23-year-old daughter, Jerica, who lives in Brookhaven. The pastor’s hobbies range from fishing to going to Hazlehurst High football games.

Wherever he travels, Jerry Norrells preaches the value of an education at America’s second oldest Baptist college. “That’s why I chose Mississippi College – its Christian ministry is very helpful,” he said. “We have prayer before class. I like that.”