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Q:
Jerry, I know that at one time you lived in Lincoln.
How did that come about?
A:
I came to Lincoln in the fall of 1956 and graduated with a
bachelor’s degree in 1960.
I then did a year and a half of advanced study.
I came to Lincoln from my home in Villa Grove.
Ben Merold, who is known by many in Lincoln, was the major
influence on my decision to move to Lincoln.
Q:
What are your memories of living in Lincoln?
A:
Two elements stick out in my mind.
One was the students, and the closest to me in that regard
was Tom Ewald (who still lives in Lincoln).
He was the best man in my wedding and my wife still says
so!
The
other element was the faculty at LBI.
So many had an influence on me, but the one who drew the
most out of me and blessed me the most was Dr. John Raulls.
It was just such a privilege to sit in his living room or
in his classroom and spend time with him.
I remember his vast personal library.
You could pick any book in his collection and you would
even find it totally underlined, notes in it.
Once I found a note that said, “Write this author and set
him straight.” He was just a brilliant man. He was a skilled pianist and an excellent preacher.
I
can remember to this day about six sermons that I heard him
deliver in chapel. One that I’ll never forget was on the
mediatorship of Jesus Christ. That still sticks with me.
The first line of the message was, “And He surprised them
all that day.” It’s been a heartwarming experience over the
years to remember him and my time in Lincoln.
I was the last of his students to be with him before he
died, and I will cherish that time together as well.
He still is highly influential in my life.
Community
concert patrons might take note that it was he who designed the
acoustics of the Earl Hargrove Chapel. He researched that subject so much that my understanding is
that he became one of the foremost authorities on acoustics in the
world. You could
discuss Broadway musicals with him, evolutionary and creationist
points of view, how to raise apples or how to raise children.
He was just a phenomenal man.
I
also remember goofing off with a lot of college students in
Lincoln. My daughter
recently spent a couple of years in Lincoln and she assured me
that that kind of stuff doesn’t go on there anymore…that all
the kids are too busy studying!
Q:
So, what brought you to Salt Lake City?
A:
Well, I have always liked the West.
I never really imagined that I would ever live out here.
The local church here was having some difficulties and had
gone a year and a half without a minister.
Not many were willing to come so far west and many were
unsure of the whole LDS environment.
When former Lincoln resident Bob Phillips, who had been the
former president of Lincoln Christian College, turned down the
position, he then recommended me because we were friends.
So, I came here in 1980.
On May the 1st I will celebrate my 20th
year here.
Q:
Today I want to talk to you about your involvement in the
NBA and specifically your role with the Utah Jazz.
Tell us about it?
A:
Seventeen years ago I had already worked two years as the
chaplain for the local minor league baseball team, the Gulls.
That fall the Jazz drafted 7’4” Mark Eaton.
He moved into a condo just two blocks from the Southeast
Christian Church where I minister.
At that time he began attending our church, since the Jazz
had no chaplaincy program. Mark,
being a man of faith, wanted to get a program started for the
Jazz. So, he served
as liaison to put Frank Leyden (Lincoln sports fans will remember
Frank as the funny sidekick to Marv Albert in all the old NBA
blooper films) and I together.
Frank was the team president and he was all for the idea.
He has supported the chaplaincy program since its inception
and has stayed very close to it ever since.
It
is strange that a guy like me from Central Illinois who loved
basketball would ever get an opportunity like this, especially
since I did not like professional basketball.
But now, after watching them night after night for so many
years, I believe that they are the greatest athletes in the world.
I get to share almost every night with another good ol’
Illinois boy, Coach Jerry Sloan. Hanging out with him, the other coaches and players, I have
learned many intricacies of the game.
I’ve seen the complete sacrifice and comitments that are
demanded of the players that are going to be involved in this
game.
Q:
I know that not every player goes to chapel.
Who goes from the Jazz?
And from the rest of the league?
A:
Each and every team in the NBA has a chapel program.
The makeup of those respective chapels will change from
year to year due to trades, free agency and retirement.
Over the years here in Salt Lake City we have had a pretty
good response from the players.
We have had anywhere from four to 11 of the players
involved. The coaches
are also invited.
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How
often each team has chapel varies from city to city and from
organization to organization.
The Jazz has a chapel the last home game of every week.
We also have some seasonal ones, like for Christmas, and
during the playoffs we will have one every game.
Our players who have made it a significant part of their
lives over the years include Mark Eaton, Thurl Bailey,
Darryl Griffith, currently Karl
Malone, Jacque Vaughn, Olden Polynice and Armon Gilliam.
These players have been very faithful and supportive of the
chapel program.
It
has opened a lot of doors for counseling.
Sometimes the coaches will even suggest that a player
should come and talk to me about a problem they may be having.
Even though the coaches may or may not be Christian, they
may sense that the players’ problem is of a spiritual nature.
Some
players from the other teams join us when they are in town.
David Robinson and Avery Johnson from the San Antonio
Spurs, Mark Jackson from the Indiana Pacers, Bryce Drew from the
Houston Rockets, – and this will surprise your readers, but –
Latrelle Sprewell from the New York Knicks, along with Charlie
Ward, just to name a few.
Q:
What is the chapel format like?
A:
Most teams do it the same way. It usually takes place about
an hour before the game. The
players have an opportunity to share any prayer needs or concerns
that they may have. Occasionally,
one of the players will pray. Then we have about a seven- or
eight-minute devotional followed by a closing prayer. The players
are not in a position where they have unlimited time in a pre-game
setting. The time is really squeezed because of TV demands, time
with the trainer or having to get taped, and that sort of thing.
I do almost all of the speaking for the chapels.
Sometimes I bring in some other local people, but often
they are so overwhelmed by the celebrity part of the thing that
they lose track of what they are there for.
The
very best chapel I ever had was when Pete Maravich came to town to
have his uniform number retired.
We were playing the Houston Rockets that night, and all of
our players came along with their wives.
Pete gave one of the most profound, meaningful messages
that any of us will ever hear.
Q:
What about the coaches from the other teams?
A:
Many coaches do not like it at all.
In fact, when Pat Riley was coaching the Lakers he would
not allow his players to go to chapel.
They couldn’t even hold their services in the arena.
They had to meet in a restaurant across the street.
Most coaches just have so many demands before tip-off that
they can’t always take the time to come.
Some that do include Dan Issel from the Denver Nuggets and
Paul Westphal from the Seattle Supersonics.
Q:
What about the players’ motivation for attending?
Does it flow from their lifestyle or do they just go for
“good luck”?
A:
You have touched on the reality for some players.
There are no two ways about it.
Some definitely see it as a good luck charm.
Some of the players will tell you that they come
specifically to get their minds clear of all the other “stuff”
that goes on in the innards of an NBA arena.
There’s always a relentless reporter, a fan, a security
guard who has his cousin in from Denver that wants to meet this
player, and it is simply a very cloistered atmosphere.
We get them away from all that.
For guys like Jacque Vaughn and Armon Gilliam, who are
really serious about their faith; they simply need the chapel
time. They can seldom
attend church because on Sundays they are either playing somewhere
or practicing.
The
success of NBA chapel in every city depends on the receptivity of
the team’s front office and their coaching staff.
The Jazz coaching staff is very congenial.
In fact, Coach Jerry Sloan asks me to have a team prayer
every night before they take the floor.
Q:
Well, it sounds like another Central Illinois guy getting
to know professional athletes up close and personal in a way we
all wish we could.
A: I know.
Sometimes I get to go in and have dinner with the coaches
and the coaches from the other team and maybe some of the scouts.
Or some nights I’ll just be sitting there talking to the
best players in the world. It
may not always be helping my church to grow, but it sure is
a lot of fun!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
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