Photo Courtesy of Kernville, Kern River United Methodist Church
The Kern River United Methodist Church welcomed its new pastor Shawn Collins in July. Worship leader Tom McKinney invited the Kern Valley Sun to interview Collins and introduce him to the local community, Friday August 16. Collins’ arrival was a welcome new phase after the congregation mourned the loss of its former pastor, Jean Sidner, who passed away mere months ago.
Pastor Collins admits he’s not perfect, which should assure locals he’s not prideful in his faith. “I had some troubles in my life,” he said.
How Collins became a pastor in Kernville is a long back-story. He said, “They called me. I had been preaching all over, in different places, and the community of Kern County, all over the conference, as well as speaking engagements for other organizations, carrying the message of recovery and of salvation through Christ.”
Collins, in the tradition of the olden days circuit riders, has always wanted to be an evangelist. He said, “I’m a circuit rider like John Wesley. As a result of what he’s done we have a lot of denominations that believe in Jesus. I knew God called me. So here I am.”
Collins said he had passed through this area before. “I passed through Kernville one time and ate at a pizza place (Pizza Barn.) I passed through previously and looked at the river and scenery.”
The congregation has warmly welcomed Collins. He said, “I’ve been assigned there for now. I’m a certified lay minister (CLM). I serve at the altar. When the conference calls me, that’s where I go.”
Yet Collins’ faith journey grew over a long process beginning when he was doing self help meetings in the basement of the church where Narcotics Anonymous met. He went upstairs to thank the United Methodist Church for allowing the group to meet there because of his success in recovery. So when he went upstairs and heard the church singing “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…” Then he fell in love with the denomination.
Collins attended Cal State Bakersfield to become a drug and alcohol counselor when God called him to attend Summit Bible College. “I started exploring Jesus in a real, real way. And I started to work on this intimate relationship with Christ. And He sent me through a lot of training with the United Methodist Church as I was getting my degree at Summit Bible College. I started asking the Father what should I do, where should I go, and He led me to Trinity United Methodist Church. I was able to close that church during COVID. And then He led me to Wesley United Methodist Church in Bakersfield and doing some of the training that Wesley provided I became a certified lay minister. And as a result of being a certified lay minister a place opened at Kernville UMC. I asked the Lord why Kernville. And He said to me, someone’s heart is required and they don’t even know there’s some hardness in their heart. And you’re supposed to be my representative.”
Collins was able to develop a food ministry called the Mansion of Life, feeding children, and serving widows and orphans during COVID, helping the United Methodist Church doing disaster relief. He said, “During COVID we helped people pay the rent. So the Lord has been working with me the whole time.”
Collins’ youth was filled with Christianity. His mother sent him to a Catholic school as a young child where the sister would sing the same song, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Collins said, “Almost 25, 30 years later and those missionary women were singing that song, I felt right at home, the tears started streaming down my face. And I felt like this is it.”
As a result of his faith getting stronger Collins said he has been delivered from any addictions to cigarettes, doesn’t need to drink, or live a wayward lifestyle.
Collins was honest with the press about the alcohol and abuse he witnessed growing up. “I learned that Jesus is the only way for me. My grandmother started me off going to a Pentecostal church. She took me to a holiness church on some weekends. But on the other weekends, the other side of my family took me to a Southern Baptist church. And during the week my mother had me in Catholic school.”
Recovery from addiction becomes a spiritual one, practicing spiritual principals like love, which entails patience. Collins has also been teaching men in prison how to stay clean and to change their lives. Collins believes God wanted him to present God to others, outside the church, without any specific denominational preference. Referring to his favorite hymn he said, “If I demonstrate the love of Christ, then I can go anywhere and speak with anyone, and just demonstrate the love that Christ has for me.”
Now Collins wants to share the love of Christ in the Kern River Valley. He’s currently three courses away from his doctorate degree at seminary. “I want to show God my appreciation for all that He has done for me, from where He has brought me, to where I am now,” he said.
Collins wanted to reassure the public that it’s okay to be open to getting help. He said, “We’ve entered a day where people don’t have to be afraid. Everybody makes mistakes and when people get off track, we’re planning to help people get back on track. That’s what we want to do. We’re planning on providing counseling for individuals. Sometimes people get into trouble. Sometimes people need help.”
