When Jimmy Bassham became pastor of First United Methodist Church in June 2005, the first question his wife, Sherri, asked was, “Do they have a United Methodist campus ministry there?” Her next question was, “Can I start one?”

Last week, nearly four years after beginning a Wesley Fellowship at Athens State University, the United Methodist Committee on Evangelism designated Sherri as the recipient of its prestigious Denman Award. The award, named for Harry Denman, the general secretary of the Committee on Evangelism, will be presented at the committee’s annual conference in June.

Prior to coming to Athens, Sherri was director of the Wesley Foundations at the University of North Alabama and Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, which was the first chapter to be organized on one of the state’s community colleges.

Georgia native

A native of Forest Park, Ga., outside of Atlanta, Sherri met her future husband when he was a young pastor paying a hospital call on her grandfather.

“Jimmy had just graduated from the University of Alabama and was about to enter seminary, when Sherri visited her grandparents in Roanoke.

“I went to visit my grandfather in the hospital, and lo and behold, there was this cute little preacher,” she said.

The Basshams have been married 37 years and have one son, Blake Bassham, who is married to Stephanie, and they have a son, Grey, 2. The Basshams also have a daughter, Blair. Both of the Bassham adult children live in Birmingham.

When you ask Sherri about some of the activities in which her ASU Wesley Fellowship is involved, she takes a deep breath and says, “Oh, my, where do I start?”

Active group

But she’s glad to give it a try.