Biography (based on 05/11/2025 Sermon):

Reverend Merrily Harris is 74 years old. She came to Massachusetts over 30 years ago, having moved from Martinsville, Virginia, with her husband to serve as missionaries. Her husband passed away in the year 2000.

From a young age, Reverend Harris felt a calling to ministry. With her mother and father active in the church and her grandfather being a minister, she feels that ministry is “in my blood.” She recounts having visions as a child, seeing people, including children, walking towards her, which she understood as God calling her. She states she doesn’t know any other way to live and always knew this was her path.

After her husband’s passing, Reverend Harris felt she was “on the road looking for what God wanted me to do with the rest of [her] life.” She had never felt called to be an ordinary minister. However, upon entering West Conventional Church, she felt the Holy Spirit working on her. She spoke with Reverend Don Bliss about feeling called to ministry, although initially, the idea seemed unreal to her. Following a long journey, she began her ministry on January 19th of this year.

Alongside her ministry work, Reverend Harris maintains a full-time career as a psychotherapist. She is licensed as a mental health counselor in Massachusetts and has been practicing therapy for approximately 25 years. She pursued her master’s degree at Leslie after moving to Massachusetts.

Since beginning her ministry, she has also started a band. Reverend Harris preaches sermons, including one based on John 10:22, titled “Hearing The Shepherd’s Voice.” She describes her method of studying scripture as reading it carefully, listening intently to the words, meditating on them, and asking God what He wants her to teach others.

A central theme in her teaching is the importance of hearing God’s voice and learning to recognize it. She uses the analogies of a child knowing their mother’s voice or a dog recognizing its master’s voice. She stresses the need to listen to know where God is leading. According to Reverend Harris, God’s “perfect voice” must align with scripture and brings feelings of joy, while the enemy’s voice creates confusion, negativity, and irritation. When discerning a calling, she advises testing the waters, praying, and talking to God for a significant period rather than solely relying on others’ opinions. She suggests always praying to God first before making decisions, even minor ones.

She outlines several ways to hear God’s voice:

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Reading and studying God’s word: This includes looking up historical context and background to understand scripture better.

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Finding quiet time: Dedicating moments to sit and simply listen for God without needing to speak.

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Praying on one’s knees: Reverend Harris strongly encourages this as a humbling position before God, sharing that she used to cry every time she did so when she started this practice.

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Praise and worship: She loves to sing hymns and has been singing since she was a young girl, even appearing on a radio church service at age five. She describes experiencing moments of transcendence during worship where she feels disconnected from the world and present in a heavenly place.

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Being with other Christians: Surrounding oneself with believers and engaging with the Christian community is another way to hear God’s voice. She mentions attending congregationalist meetings in Massachusetts and a women’s group website as examples of connecting with other Christians.

Reverend Harris believes that life gets better with age. She now possesses a “knowledge,” a “knowing” of blessed assurance, rather than just a hope. Reflecting on her life, she feels God has watched over her entirely and realized around the age of 30 that He did it out of love for her. She emphasizes that God cares for people because He loves them, regardless of their background, parents, origin, or financial status. She encourages people to cultivate a friendship with Jesus.