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Date: 3/16/2023
SOUTHWICK — Michael Ferris creates pottery as a hobby. He also uses it in a vivid visual presentation about spiritual truths.
The ordained minister, psychologist and marriage and family therapist travels around the country and the world with his clay and his pottery wheel to convey a message of hope, healing and redemption. He is coming to Southwick this month.
In his presentation, “A Journey to the Potter’s House,” Ferris combines pottery craftsmanship and creative communications with his love for people and his love for God. His message: we all live our lives as clay in the hands of the potter.
“The idea of God as a potter and people as clay is not an idea I came up with,” said Ferris, who will bring his presentation to the Living Hope Church in Southwick on March 19.
“It’s a metaphor that’s used in the Bible. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah pens these words in chapter 64, verse 8 of his book. ‘Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand,’” Ferris explained.
His presentation demonstrates the parallel process a potter takes with clay to fashion it into a vessel, and then compares it to the process individuals go through as life and circumstances fashions them into the individuals they become.
The concept for “A Journey to the Potter’s House” came one day while making pottery at his home in Colchester, CT. Ferris was thinking about the order of operations in the pottery-making process and how it’s important not to skip a step – step 4 can’t be done before step 3.
Ferris recalled that he then heard God telling him that while he understands this process as it relates to fashioning clay, he doesn’t realize God has been taking him through the same process by fashioning his life into the plans God has for him.
That’s when Ferris found himself reflecting over his life story – all his difficulties, pain, mistakes, shame, regret, and ways he hurt people and ways people hurt him.
“I heard God say, ‘If you will give this all to Me, I will redeem it. Your suffering will not go to waste,’” he said.
Ferris realized this was basically the message he was trying to teach to his master’s level counseling class. A graduate school professor at the time, he brought his potter’s wheel to class and started making pottery in front of about 25 adult students to show them his vision.
He explained how the potter uses pressure and pain to form the clay, and how the pressures and pain of our lives similarly shape us into the people we’ve become.
Word spread about his unusual presentation and Ferris began getting calls from pastors asking him to share his message at their churches. Eventually, he gave up teaching to create a 501c3 nonprofit public charity. For the past 14 years, he’s traveled around the world sharing his message.
There are a number of takeaways Ferris wants people to understand about his message. Their lives are not a mistake, they aren’t defined by their failures, and there is a God who loves them – regardless of the circumstances that surrounded their birth and their upbringing – and that there is healing for their hearts and souls.
“It’s a powerful spiritual paradox. It resonates deeply within the souls of all of humankind for those who will slow down with their lives long enough to listen,” said Ferris.
“It’s a transformational message. People have told me after hearing the presentation that they’re now able to let go of the pain of the past. Many have received healing from wounds to their souls,” he added.
Living Hope Church Pastor Dan Valeri said this will be the first time his congregation will hear Ferris.
“We really wanted him to come this year – and we wanted to give our congregation enough time to invite other people to come. I really think people are going to get a lot out of it,” Valeri said.
He added that Ferris is “an amazingly accomplished potter” who is “uniquely qualified” to share how people can find emotional and spiritual healing.
“Michael uses pottery to communicate his ideas in a visual illustration,” added Valeri. Ferris explained that a visual demonstration helps people remember and connect better to his message.
“Many people have commented that they’ve heard messages on the potter and the clay before, but never experienced it so powerfully as seeing it visually. People have told me years later that they remember an aspect of the teaching because of the visual imagery,” Ferris said.
It’s also a message that Ferris said shows there’s hope beyond pain.
“All of us have pain in our lives. Pain is universal. Suffering is universal,” he said. “Most people allow themselves to be defined by their pain because they don’t know how to deal with their pain,”
He said what makes the presentation so powerful is that “the imagery and the story help people come into an understanding of this for their own lives – and that’s very freeing and very healing.”
Valeri, who learned about the presentation from a missionary friend, said it’s great for people who do art and pottery, and “it’s also a wonderful presentation for those who want to find hope and healing for the hurts and troubles of life.”
“A Journey to the Potter’s House” is a 90-minute presentation that starts at 10 a.m. While it’s open to the public at no charge, the church will take a special voluntary collection for Ferris’ ministry. In addition, some of his pottery will be on sale in the church foyer after the event.
For more information, contact the church office at 569-1882 or use the contact form at www.livinghopechurchag.org. The church is at 267 College Hwy., Southwick.