Wayne Coster Cooper

This Friday a Celebration of the Life of Fritz Glaus is being held at 3:00pm on the Elevation Church University City campus in Charlotte, NC.

Fritz Glaus was a great man. He touched many lives for good—all over the world—particularly in the name of Jesus Christ.

I met Fritz during an eGroup recruiting event at Elevation Church Providence. Between services my laptop was causing me grief and he left his table to come see if he could help the grumpy old man. During our conversation I learned he had been a chaplain on the pro tennis tour back in the golden era of tennis—when Connors, McEnroe, Agassi et al ruled the courts. That was a time when I was obsessed with tennis. I played 4-6 hours a day—watched every tennis event that aired on cable TV—attended about every pro tennis event that came near to San Diego—even my girlfriend at the time had been captain of her college tennis team. Little did I know that there was actually someone in the background at all of those pro tennis events, traveling all over the world, at the Grand Slams, ministering Christ to the players and their families.

Fritz was the first member of WritersInTheSpirit (WITS). When he joined he was upfront that he wasn’t a writer—but he had a great story—and boy did he ever. If you want to read an authentic story of how God raised up the unlikely from smack in the middle of nowhere USA, sent him all over the world, where he met with world leaders and the very famous and billionaires, ministering in the name of Christ on the ATP professional tennis tour—you need go no further than Fritz’s book, Love Game—co-written by Mike Yorkey, arguably the top Christian sports author in America with over eighty books to his credit.

One day Fritz dropped by right after he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. “The doctor showed me on the brain scan,” Fritz explained. “He said that my mental faculties from here on out would deteriorate rapidly.” Fritz was so matter-of-fact about it, I thought at first I was being punked. There was no bitterness in him.

The first time I visited Fritz at the memory care unit I left rather bitter. And a bit angry. I didn’t understand how someone who had served Christ faithfully could end up like that. Was that his reward? Really, Lord?

But then I’m too often thick and stiff-necked and hard of understanding.

A few months later Robin, Fritz’s wife, phoned and said Fritz had been diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer. The doctors gave him 3-6 months to live. She followed up a couple weeks later to say his condition had worsened. I had planned on visiting Fritz but I really didn’t want to—not after that first visit. I wanted to remember him as he was before that. Though Robin didn’t intend her call to be a warning, I interpreted it as such and felt like I needed to get my ass in gear.

That visit—it was magical—the day could not have been any more beautiful—I left very encouraged. A few days later Fritz passed away. I was thankful that he was with the Lord.

And I was blessed to have seen him that last time; it really helped my understanding.

The final paragraph that Fritz writes in Love Game goes like this:

“Many seeds were sown during twelve seasons on the men’s professional tennis tour. I guess I won’t know what happened to most of those seeds until that Day when I meet Jesus Christ in glory.”

And so he knows.