Ricebird coach turns Schulenburg pastor
" ... God is putting me in the mix right away in my ministry." -Jerrell Barron
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

Contributed Photo Answering A Call Jerrell Barron, pictured (center) his wife Alice (left) and son Jerrell Barron Jr. (right), took on a new role as pastor of a church in Schulenburg. While working in ministry, he will continue to coach and teach in El Campo.

EC wide receivers' coach Jerrell Barron spends his time showing players how to be flexible as they play the game, and knowing about juggling roles should be a big help as he takes on a new role in his personal life - pastor.

Barron recently became pastor at Pleasant Union Missionary Baptist Church in Schulenburg after months of serving as the church's interim pastor. He will now hold three jobs: teacher, coach and pastor.

"I really do look forward to it," Barron said. "I think now it's all going to be a big test for me and how much I'll be able to withstand, not only in the workload that I have in El Campo but now in the extra workload I have as a pastor in Schulenburg.

"I'll still have time, it will just be way crazy and really, really busy with this whole (ministry) now. I just have to make do now and fit some things into some tight times. I think it will be OK."

L-N Photo by Chris Barbee Coach, Teacher, Preacher Jerrell Barron will still give talks like this as an El Campo coach while he pastors a church in Schulenburg.

The move into ministry has been a long work-in-progress for Barron. He said he felt called for a while but fought it off and ignored it. Barron said he believes God sent him some signals, trying to get his attention. It worked. In January of 2007 he accepted his calling.

"I had an uncle that passed away and had a car accident and some things that God started punishing me because I wasn't being obedient to him," Barron said. "I had to really take heed of what he was telling me to do. After that accident, that really made me open my eyes and realize that God had a purpose and a plan for me and in order for me to keep from being punished, I need to go forth and do his work and do what he's wanting me to do."

Barron said he immediately wanted to get involved in his home church, a place he had been for quite some time.

"I've been in Schulenburg ever since I was in college at Sam Houston State, where I met my wife Alice," He said. "Her entire family is born and raised in Schulenburg, so we started attending church there while we were in college.

"I found a home there and we've been there ever since. I enjoy it and I love it. Hopefully we can get our church and start growing and prospering as the Lord would want us to."

Two months after taking a position under the church's current pastor, Dr. E.F. Williams, Barron preached his first sermon. Later in the summer, Williams felt called to move to another church and Barron was named interim pastor while the church sought for an official replacement.

It was not until Sunday that the church decided on Barron over four other candidates. Barron said he was thrilled with the selection, but admitted he never expected anything like this to unfold when he first followed his call.

"(Pastoring) never really came into play when I came into the ministry because I thought our pastor would be there for a while and I would work under him and kind of learn," Barron said. "I think God had a plan where he wanted to me to get in there early on in my ministry and … grow as I work as a pastor.

"It kind of relates to my career as a coach because when I came out of college, my first year, I was already a head coach in two sports. I think it's kind of the same thing, where I had to be thrown into the fire and now God is putting me in the mix right away in my ministry. Now I've got to learn while I'm growing at the same time."

The Barron family will get the chance to work together for the people of Schulenburg in this new role. Jerrell and his wife Alice, who also coaches at El Campo High School, are excited about the possibilities the position will bring.

"Well, as the first lady at Pleasant Union Missionary Baptist Church, Schulenburg, Texas, I'm very excited," Alice said. "The title alone is a lot, but just knowing what I have in store for me and what I can actually do now for the children and the community and even the adults, even though I'm young I think I can inspire a lot of people to come to the Lord."

Both said they are thankful to God, their parents, especially Jerrell's father, the late Jerry Crenshaw and several pastors they have had around them including Danny Henderson, Phillip Turner and Williams. Barron also said he is grateful to Bob Gillis, El Campo's athletic director, for allowing him extra time on Sundays to lead his church.

Barron brings with him knowledge of the Bible and lessons learned from several pastors around him and said he is interested in continuing his education in ministry in the future.

"All of my learnings have come strictly from the Bible and from many other Biblical sources that I have through books," he said. "I've been blessed to have a lot of pastors around me. My mother-in-law married a pastor, my mom is an evangelist and (Alice's) best friend's dad is a pastor.

"I've been blessed to have them around me so I can learn even when I wasn't in the ministry. Now that I am, I can use the things that I've learned myself and the things that I've learned from others to help me in this whole Christian race that we run."