Finding religion at the truck stop

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
By Karen Goldberg Goff
Carlisle, Pa.

There are no church bells ringing at Truckstop Ministries near Carlisle, Pa. The call to worship is chaplain Dave Hershey walking through the parking lot of a Pilot truck stop on a Sunday morning, inviting any trucker he sees to join the group for the 11 a.m. service.

"As an evangelist, that is what I do," says Mr. Hershey, whose enthusiasm, bordering on frenetic energy, is at least piquing the interest of some who otherwise might have slept in on the traditional day of rest. "A trucker in the window to me is an open door. Everyone's welcome, but I don't want to force anything. I want to show I can help them." the rest