Rev. Drew Vogt – The Spiciest Reverend in San Francisco!

Rev. Drew was one of the first people I met in San Francisco. This warm-hearted, live-wire, easy to like personality is the gravitational force of "Celebrate Life", a Spiritualist Church in San Francisco. But let's start way back in time and title it 'God's ways are inscrutable.' At that time, Rev. Drew got a spiritual calling and was told to leave native San Diego for San Francisco. And, after a few deliberations, he followed the call – not without making a deal with God: If the San Francisco venture would not go smooth as glass, Rev. Drew would return to San Diego spreading the word about God not being personally involved… He quit his job and left everything behind (including the Southern California weather and the sandy beaches) to settle down in San Francisco where he knew not one soul and where the economic situation was less than appealing. Do I need to point out that all the pieces fell into place like magic and that everything worked out perfectly? For Rev. Drew, this was the proof that God gets personally involved… Not only did Rev. Drew get used to the specific San Francisco pace over time, but came to love the city and the San Franciscan way of prioritizing life style and celebrating a highly developed food culture. His every day life is fueled by his love for people in general, but specifically by his vocation for supporting their personal growth and facilitating their pursuit of living up to their full potential. A few practical examples are hands-on support for orphans in Mexico, cooking for fundraisers, inspirational speeches, thoughtful teachings, ministerial hospital visits, boosts of uplifting messages and much, much more.

Now, people have stories to tell and Rev. Drew is no exception to this rule. Plus he turns out to be a wonderful story-teller! So here comes the story of the shoplifter he chased successfully through the streets of San Francisco. Working in a store for high-end leather apparel downtown San Francisco, that was regularily targeted by shoplifters, he became sensitized to this problem. One day, Rev. Drew observed a lady walking out the door, with her coat ominously bulging. Without hesitating he started after her. She ran, Rev. Drew ran. He chased lady shoplifter all the way out of the shopping center and into the streets. Pedestrians stopped to watch the chase. Somehow the sportive shoplifter managed to outdistance Rev. Drew and he lost sight of her. He was about to give up, when he spotted her across the street and about to board a bus. One final sprint, he catched up and managed to grab her. In return, lady shoplifter clawed Rev. Drew's face bloody. In the meantime, shop security guards had arrived onto the scene, taking over and tackling the situation. Wow, what a thrilling story and wonderful example of personal engagement and civil courage! Well, Rev. Drew is definitely not bland…

If you'd like to learn more about Rev. Drew's adventurous activities, feel free to visit www.drewvogt.com

Thank you Drew for being there, for your dedicated work and for being part of my life!