FARGO — The jump from serving for years in the Air Force to serving the people of God seemed natural for the Rev. Henry Jenkins. Less natural was acclimating to the nuances of North Dakota.
“We went from the military culture, which moved very fast, to coming to a culture of people who grew up with each other—and whose parents knew their parents,” Jenkins says. “If you align with the values, you can be in the ‘in’ group.”
But not all values here were foreign to him; namely, the general love of country, “a big positive.”
As one of few Black leaders in the community, Jenkins says racial issues haven’t been totally nonexistent, but they’re pleasantly rare. “People are so kind and friendly. How Fargo of them, right?” he chuckles. “It’s just an incredible, great community and I’m trying to convince relatives of that, but they don’t want to do the snow.”
Faith formed in Florida
Fargo was not on his periphery growing up in Florida, where faith was planted in him largely by a single, fervently Christian mother who frequented church and clutched a well-worn Bible.
His extended family also included many father figures, mostly uncles, who were solid role models. “One was especially strong in the church,” he says. Despite being challenged by epilepsy, which claimed his life while fairly young, Jenkins says, “He was a strong man of faith and a hard worker; someone I always wanted to emulate.”
In their small, Pentecostal church, Jenkins fell in love with Christ. “I was a weird kid who loved God, prayed to God, and had this connection with the divine or the holy.” But in his teen years, Jenkins became wooed by the world.
While visiting relatives in Georgia, he met Michelle, whom he married nine months later at age 20. This month marks their 32-year anniversary.
Military movement
Jenkins attended Florida State University, but midway through his sophomore year, joined the United States Air Force—a move he says shaped him positively through its discipline, structure and values.
But there were drawbacks, too, including being away from his young family for a year while stationed in South Korea. “I was separated from my wife and newborn daughter, and our marriage was in a rocky place.”
While there, Jenkins met a group of vibrant Christians and reclaimed his faith. When he returned home, something was different.
Michelle was caught off guard at first. “We had both come from Christian families, so it wasn’t jolting, but it was more like, ‘OK, is this what we’re doing?’” Ultimately, Jenkins says, the transformation saved their marriage.
Changing to chaplaincy
Later, while stationed in California, Jenkins found himself in a discussion at a Christian bookstore, sharing with a stranger his passion for Christ. By the end, he’d become intrigued about possibly attending seminary at the new Orlando campus of Asbury Theological Seminary.
With three children in tow, the Jenkinses relocated to Florida, where he worked as a part-time reservist while attending seminary, including as a military chaplain.
Soon, a calling to full-time ministry became clear; particularly while on a death-notification assignment to inform a family of their young-adult son’s death overseas. Serving God and country suddenly became very poignant.
“In that moment, you embody that reality, and there’s this touch of the divine in the midst of grief,” Jenkins says, “but you’re also there in uniform, representing a country with dignity and honor.”
Soon, the family was headed to Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota, to do full-time chaplaincy. “My wife cried when she heard ‘South Dakota,’” Jenkins says, “But then she got there and made great friends and cried when she had to leave.”
After South Dakota, the family, now connected to the Methodist Church, left for Las Vegas for ministry, having lived also in Germany, Georgia and Texas through the military.
While there, another call came with these strange words: “Would you ever consider moving to Fargo, North Dakota?”
Finding faith in Fargo
In all,Jenkins was active military duty for 20 years, with a break in between decades. In his final military assignment, he was “on track to be very successful in the Air Force.”
But something was unsettled. “I was sensing the Lord saying it was time to move on.” He looked at several options, including Christian media and overseas missionary work, but those didn’t pan out. “So I prayed one of those prayers, ‘I just want to be in your will, Lord,’” which almost always receives an answer, though not always the one expected.
At the time, Fargo’s Calvary Church was about to experience a transition with longtime pastor David Motta preparing to retire. Jenkins was unsure, and Michelle even less so. “But the idea wouldn’t rest in my spirit or heart,” he says.
Jenkins did something he knew he could count on. “I called my mom.” By the end of that conversation, which included his sister, the answer was clear. “My mom has always been my spiritual rock,” he says. “I got a word of knowledge, and I understood.”
They arrived here in June 2021, just as the church was in the depths of considering disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church.
A timely transition
Kathy Spriggs and her husband, Kent, members of Calvary for 33 years, loved Motta, she says, but have been grateful for Pastor Henry’s leadership—including during the switch to the Global Methodist Church.
“He came with a military background, which was something different for all of us,” she says, recalling her emotion at witnessing his impressive military retirement ceremony at their church. “He arrived in his military uniform, and when after he walked out, and came back in, he was in his pastor clothes.”
She was especially impressed by his skills that seemed such a precise match for their situation.
“He’s very diplomatic, a strength he got from being in the military,” Michelle says. He offered insight and information rather than demands. “I don’t know how he keeps it all straight,” she adds of his many strengths, “but he manages really well.”
Aside from being an astute pastor, she says, her husband enjoys teaching and getting people together to discuss important matters. “He’s very caring and very creative. He’s one of those people who can imagine anything and come up with concepts or ways of doing things.”
Sometimes, he’ll get out his keyboard and write songs. “He’s a character—his dry jokes, and crazy sense of humor. And oh gosh, we love old movies. He loves quoting from old movies. Just silly stuff.”
But above all, she says, he loves his family, the church, and God. “He will talk to anyone about anything, and he doesn’t pass judgment on people, because he feels everyone needs to search for themselves.”
Spriggs says she appreciates how Jenkins speaks truth from God’s word and Scripture, often giving sermons on current events. “Some churches will shy away from these topics, but he’s ready to face it, and ask, ‘What does Scripture say about this?’”
She also appreciates his challenges at the end of his sermons, giving the congregation something to think about in the week ahead.
Jenkins says he especially values his church’s “orthodox view of the family as the centerpiece for God’s design for community.” But actions must accompany a heart for reconciliation—in the Biblical sense. “When Christ died, he broke down the wall between Jews and Gentiles…We are now one in Christ, and anyone who comes to him and confesses him as Lord joins a whole new family.”
Can we love our enemies as Christ did, he wonders? “That’s a big ask, to bless those who curse and revile you,” he says, but it’s also the key to current conflicts.
Too often, Jenkins cautions, Christians make politics their religion. “But the minute we dehumanize people with labels or names, it’s a short fall before we’re finding reasons to justify hate. I don’t see that in the Scriptures as a valid response.”
A foundation of love underlies why Christ came, he says, referencing John 3:16 and Romans 5:8. “God is still demonstrating his love for us, even when we’re getting it all wrong.”
This love, he says, isn’t a feeling, nor conditional. “You don’t have to prove anything. That kind of agape love is just there, and it’s unwavering.”
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on April 12, 2024.]
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