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Mr. Umpire Uses Sports for Outreach
Craig Pinley
PALATINE, IL (May 4, 2000) - On Sundays, he's Pastor Bill to nearly everyone he meets. During the rest of the week, he's just as likely to be called Mr. Umpire.
Bill Orris, the pastor at DeerGrove Covenant Church in Palatine, Illinois, serves as an umpire for local high schools and colleges during the spring and referees prep football games every fall. He has been officiating for various sports since 1978 and has found his part-time job to be a positive way to meet non-Christians in his community during 13 years in pastoral ministry.
Orris, wife Lisa, and children Billy, Lauren and Michael, have been at DeerGrove Covenant Church since August 1999. Previously, Orris served seven years as senior pastor of Crossroads Covenant Church in Forest Lake, Minnesota. Both churches have embraced the idea of their pastor being a witness to Christ through officiating, and Orris has modeled friendship evangelism to his congregation.
His 6-foot-4 frame makes Orris an imposing- looking umpire when in uniform, but his friendly demeanor and vast experience as an official are just as important when tensions run high in a close game. He possesses a booming voice, well trained from past college and church music ministries, giving him the skills to sing the national anthem before a game as well as bellow "Play Ball."
"God has gifted me with the gift of evangelism and I want serve in the community," Orris said. "In Forest Lake, it had a real community feel and when people in my congregation would go
to high school games they'd say to others, 'That's my pastor out there officiating.' I really was able to use my gifts of evangelism there and Crossroads became a church that was known for its work in the community."
Orris was an athletic youngster, but admits that his talents in baseball weren't as strong as his passion for the game. So, while he captained his varsity golf team at McKeesport High in Pennsylvania, he began training to be an umpire, eventually becoming the youngest licensed official in the state. He says one of his biggest thrills was umpiring an American Legion championship at Three Rivers Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Orris used his officiating skills to help pay for his education at Wheaton College and Trinity Theological Seminary in Illinois from 1981-1988. In fact, he now works football games with the same officiating crew that he worked with when he first arrived in Illinois nearly two decades ago. The relationships with fellow officials and local athletic directors, coaches, and players at the high schools allow Orris a forum he wouldn't have in his full-time profession.
"In Bellingham, Washington, I was the assigning secretary for umpires and that was my ministry," said Orris, who was working as an associate pastor of music and worship at the time. "I worked with 70 guys in the association and I'd invite them to come at Easter and Christmas - and I'd cry when I'd see them there. Some of these guys had never darkened the door of a church, but they would come because I had built a rapport with them."
Building trust with other officials means post-game meetings to discuss strategy or recall critical calls during the event. Often that translates into sharing meals at the local sports bar, an unlikely mission outpost, but one with which Orris has grown comfortable.
"These guys were watching me all the time and they knew I'm a pastor," Orris said. "But, they saw that I was real, they saw that I had fun with them. To this day, I could call some of those guys (in other states) as friends. The senior pastor (in Bellingham) thought it was great; he
thought it would get me out in the community."
In Minnesota, Orris served a church that grew from 350 to 1,150 in attendance. He credits his congregation for their willingness to befriend non-Christians and invite them to church, although his work in the community may have helped a little. When he and daughter Lauren participated in a community theater production of Oliver, Orris made front-page news in the local newspaper because of the interesting role he played in the musical.
"The newspaper said, 'Come see the pastor teach people to pickpocket,'"joked Orris. "But, I had two cast members from the play come to one service after I invited the cast and the next week 30 more came. When you're with a cast for three or four weeks of practice, you become like a family. So, when they got to know me after a while, I asked them to come and meet my family. It was incredible."
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