DANVILLE, Va. — Eric Cottrell had wanted to become a minister since he was 18.

But it would be a while before he would become ordained.

“God called me,” the 34-year-old Danville resident recalled during a recent interview at The Arc of Southside. “I thought he was joking. I was young, hanging out with the wrong crowd.”

Thanks to help from The Arc, he achieved his dream of becoming an ordained minister in 2018. The organization provides support for those with developmental disabilities to help them have a life like everyone else.

“I like to preach and tell about his word and for people to get saved,” Cottrell said.

His favorite part of the Bible is John 3:16, which states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

In May, Cottrell, a client, advocate and board member with The Arc, officiated his first wedding for Misty and Josh Thompson. Misty works for The Arc of Southside as a service coordinator.

A 13-year client with The Arc, Cottrell was a resident at its former Blairs facility on U.S. 29 when the organization was still providing institution-based services. He also worked at the group’s sheltered workshop program, the Hatcher Center, which has since closed.

But since the group’s shift in recent years from a facility-based approach to a community-based system, The Arc of Southside provided help and enabled Cottrell and other clients to live independently.

Over the last 10 years, the commonwealth has been transitioning away from institutional care and segregated living and working environments.

Cottrell has lived on his own since 2017.

“He physically embodies the transition from the facility-based system to a community-based system and how successful it is,” said Monica Karavanic, executive director of The Arc of Southside.

The Arc supported Cottrell on his road to becoming a minister by helping him develop the necessary skills. A direct support professional with The Arc of Southside received training from Project Literacy so he could teach Cottrell how to read. Cottrell also learned how to use a computer at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

With help from The Arc, Cottrell earned his preaching credentials by taking online courses. He became ordained under Universal Life Church Ministries in April 2018.

The Universal Life Church offers free online ordainment and has more than 20 million non-denominational ministers around the world, according to the ministry’s website.

“We are a non-denominational religious organization that welcomes people of all backgrounds and beliefs,” the website states. “We ask only that our members follow two simple tenets: do that which is right, and respect every individual’s freedom of religion.

The church encourages “diversity of thought, interest and belief,” according to the website.

“Instead of requiring extensive tests to be granted the title of clergy, we ask only that our ministers who apply for ordainment operate in good faith, keep an open mind, and be respectful of other points of view,” the website states. “In short: we offer an alternative approach to religion, one based not on dogma, obedience, and exclusion, but on the exploration of new ideas, a celebration of individuality, and a policy of inclusion.”

Cottrell has a weekly YouTube sermon, through his Family Worship Center Church of God, delivered at his home that he is starting up again on Saturdays. Camera issues had forced him to temporarily shut that down previously, he said.

But he wants his ministry to go from part-time to full-time. He hopes to get a position at a church in the region.

“I hope to go to full-time preaching,” he said. “That’s my goal.”

As for The Arc of Southside, Cottrell is no longer merely a client. He is an advocate and a board member of the local and state Arc. He is also a member of the Self-Advocacy Alliance, a state group of advocates and self-advocates for people with developmental disabilities.

He also works part-time at Speech & Occupational Therapy Specialists in Danville, where he prepares food and cleans.