In 1972 Chuck married Joy Brinkman and gave her a wedding ring that had three diamonds. Later they had three children: Clint III, Courtney and Chelsea. All children have successful lives and happy marriages. The Zimmermans also have four grandchildren.

Chuck started his ministry in 1970 as a ministerial trainee in Manchester, England, and Glasgow, Scotland. He went on to be a senior writer for the Personal Correspondence Department from 1971-1974. In 1974 he became associate pastor in Washington, D.C., and went into his first role as a pastor in 1975 in Altoona and Indiana, Pennsylvania. Between 1977 and 2010 Chuck Zimmerman was pastor of Fort Collins, Colorado; Wheatland, Wyoming; Scottsbluff, Nevada; Fayetteville and Fort Smith, Arkansas; Northwest Phoenix; and Scottsdale, Arizona. From 2011 to his current retirement he served in Florida in Tampa, St. Pete, Vero Beach, and Fort Myers.

Chuck’s current interests are hunting, fishing, faceting gems and reading. Chuck says his plans for after retirement are to “fish, read, facet gems and love the wife God gave me.”

Chuck and Joy Shares their Reflections:

Chuck Zimmerman: “Develop a motto that you can use all the years of your service to God and His people through Jesus Christ. Live that motto, your model of service, each day.”

Joy Zimmerman: As a child and student at AC I was admonished to “seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Over my life time being married to a servant of God and His people I have experienced the blessings that come from putting God and others first. As the commercial goes (paraphrased by me), the reward of serving is “priceless.”

Longtime Friends and Work Colleagues Shared Their Thoughts:

Robin Webber: “How time goes by! I remember Chuck and his family from my early high school years. He was a couple of years ahead of me in high school at the Church school in Pasadena.

“Chuck was always kind, witty, very practical, and right in the middle of school activities. Not much has changed. We were all young once, and I remember Chuck involved in school sports. Running and track too! I was close to his family (his younger sister was in my class), and his father, Dr. Clint Zimmerman, ordained me in 1975. As was the case with Ambassador College in those days, we all went our separate ways in service to God and brethren. I do specifically remember the challenging years of 1993-1995, and Chuck was a stand-up guy for the truths of God that had been revealed and we had come to love and appreciate. He and other pastors in Arizona at that time were all very involved in the formation of the United Church of God in 1995. Chuck and his wife Joy, a wonderful lady and companion in all that has come their way, have since served as as a pastoral couple and then a non-salaried ministerial couple and then again a pastoral couple. They have served the Church near and far as with recent years in the Caribbean. The size of the job, whenever and whatever the call, was never nearly as important as the size of their hearts. And now retiring. Imagine! I look forward to their ongoing contributions in life’s new chapter for them—as a Christian couple, a ministerial couple, and friends.”

Steve Buchanan: “Terri and I first met Chuck and Joy when, as church pastors, our Rapid City, South Dakota, and their Loveland, Colorado, church areas made us ‘neighbors’ in 1979. For the next decade we saw the dedication and service of the Zimmermans in their three-church circuit, at Y.O.U. activities and especially at the Feast of Tabernacles. In the 90s we were once again united as neighbors in Arizona. Chuck and Joy have always brought a certain class and high standards to the membership of the Church of God. Their ministry has been creative, supportive, giving and loving. We have always appreciated the Zimmerman family for their pioneering spirit in the Church of God, beginning with the calling of Dr. Clint Zimmerman in the early 1950s and their continuance in the faith. Through the difficult times and the good times, Chuck and Joy and their family have been examples of faithfulness and loyalty to God and His people.”