Jim Folsom: Serving Others In Little Ways
WINONA LAKE — Decades ago Jim Folsom felt the call to become a full-time man of the cloth. But a funny thing happened on the way to the pastorate.
In 1977 he enrolled in Grace College, graduating in 1981 with a double major in the Bible and biblical languages. He proceeded immediately to the campus seminary for a four-year program “that I dragged out for five years.”
Not finished with his religious education, he earned a master’s in counseling while working at CE National, a church effectiveness ministry based in Winona Lake.
After college Folsom started as an assistant to the chief financial officer of CE National. “I transitioned into assistant director of Momentum, an annual one-week youth conference held every summer. From there I was transitioned to do layout and design for the organization’s publications, like newsletters, advertising, banners and any kind of marketing material.”
He then served as a communications officer at Grace Brethren North American Missions, worked as head artist for Hand Industries in Warsaw, served as director of communications for Whitman Wellness Group and Encompass World Partners and now runs a home business in branding and graphic design.
Folsom was born and raised in Yakima, Wash., in 1959. “I was adopted before I was even born,” he said.
His biological mother was single and pregnant, but she worked with a woman who could not have children. During the pregnancy, the barren couple said they would adopt the baby.
“My mom and dad even took meals in the evening to make sure my biological mother was eating right. They took me home right from the hospital.”
Folsom was their only child and they committed to giving him the best education possible. “The best kindergarten around was in a Lutheran school.”
He liked hearing the stories about Moses and Joseph and Jesus and enjoyed the flannelgraph depictions of Bible scenes. So when he entered public school in first grade, he asked his parents, “Can we go to church?”
His dad agreed with one caveat: “We will go to a church that believes and preaches the Bible, not the Reader’s Digest.”
Years of church attendance and participation in youth group fed Folsom’s soul and prompted his move to Winona Lake, where he has lived ever since.
Plying his current career does not mean forsaking the Christian walk he has learned his entire life, and therein lies a lesson for others.
“A lot of people think serving God is relegated to church work,” he said, “but it’s in your day-to-day work. How you serve God is how you treat people and the way you do your work.
“It easy to get distracted by what is going on in the world and forgetting there is a spiritual day-to-day battle going on, not against flesh and blood but against principalities,” he said, referring to Ephesians 6:12.
“God weaves everything together because we can’t see the future,” said Stephanie, his wife of 34 years, adding, “he just quietly goes about observing little needs and what he can do to help.”
The Folsoms have two children. Jason, 29, lives in Nashville doing video editing and motion graphics. Deanna, 17, is a junior at Warsaw Community High School. “She is looking at colleges, possibly to go into elementary education,” said Stephanie.