Barry Zimmerman wasnít originally planning on being a pastor when he started school at Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing, Michigan.ìI was going to go to school to become a history and music teacher,î Zimmerman said. ìThatís what I had scholarships to do; and, after my freshman year, I felt that God was calling me to do this full time.îIn his journey to become a pastor, Zimmerman said his dad, who was also a minister, his wife and various pastors in his life helped him get to where he is today.ìI grew up in a pastorís family; I was familiar with it, understood it but I never wanted to do it,î he said. ìThatís typically how God works though, as soon as you say, ëI donít want to do that,í you end up doing it.îZimmerman has found that, although he didnít become a full-time music or history teacher, being a pastor has led him to be involved with his initial plans.ìMy dream was to be a high school teacher and do one or the other (history or music). I found in ministry that I get to do both,î he said. ìI ended up doing a lot in music. Both in communities and in churches, and the history stuff comes natural, too. I get to teach church history, itís just a little more focused in different areas.îAlthough he studied music, Zimmerman said he doesnít listen to much outside of the church.ìIf I listen to anything, it is old 1940s Big Band stuff or jazz; Iím not big into Christian music necessarily,î he said, adding that he enjoys worship music, but he said it is pretty much all the same.Zimmerman met his wife in high school, but they never talked much until they got to college, where they started dating. They were married in 1990, while they were still in school. Getting married during college is a pretty normal occurrence at Christian schools, he said. ìI wouldnít have wanted to get married earlier in college,î Zimmerman said. ìBut for our senior year it was nice. We were in married housing on campus. It was a good transition from single to married to out on our own the next year.îThey have two grown boys who are now 24 and 25.ìOur oldest is a youth pastor at Meridian Point and our youngest is a coach at Peak Gymnastics in Falcon.”Zimmerman has been the head pastor of Meridian Point church since 2008.ìI thought weíd end up in the Midwest because thatís where all our contacts were, but we saw an ad online for a little church that was starting up in the Colorado Springs area,î he said. ìI didnít know anything about the area, and I thought Iíd give it a shot and send them a resume.îWhen the pandemic hit, Zimmerman said they never stopped meeting in person, and they started holding services outside. ìEveryone would come and park their cars; weíd do an FM broadcast, and Iíd stand on the balcony and speak. It was so beautiful on those weekends that they turned into tailgate parties,î he said.No one in his congregation became sick during that time, Zimmerman said. ìWe heard from so many people that it was nice to have some part of life that didnít change, that was still stable,î Zimmerman said. ìThat was a huge benefit to a lot of people when that rug got pulled out from under us.îWhen he is not leading a congregation, Zimmerman likes to play board games with his family and groups at his church. Currently, he said he is enjoying Scythe, Chronicles of Crime, Terraforming Mars and Root.Zimmerman, a self-proclaimed lifelong nerd, finds it fascinating that things he loved as a teen werenít cool then but they are now.ìMy generation kind of began all that DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) stuff, but we were a small group, and now lots of people tend to be into that.îHis church game groups are a mix of middle-age people and 20-somethings. ìItís a really cool way to blend the generations,î Zimmerman said. The church is trying to start a board game group for all of Falcon, he said.ìOne thing we do as a church is try to find stuff we can offer to the community thatís with the church, but not churchy,î Barry said. ìSo we can just meet with people, talk with people and form relationships, and not make church all about attending a worship service.î
