LOS ANGELES — “Blue Heaven on Earth,” declares a sign behind the center field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.

That description seemed fitting as Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife, Ellen, appeared on the stage before a recent Sunday afternoon game.

A crowd clad in Dodgers blue cheered as the Kershaws reflected on their faith during a question-and-answer session with team chaplain Brandon Cash.

READ: Why MLB Teams Host Faith Nights

“I know some of you are like, ‘I hope Clayton is like that in real life,’” said Cash, a pastor-elder at Oceanside Christian Fellowship in El Segundo, California.

“Clayton is like that in real life,” the minister assured fans. “Like, this is who he is.”

The 35-year-old superstar pitcher is in his 16th season with the Dodgers. 

A 10-time All-Star, he has earned three National League Cy Young Awards as the league’s best pitcher. He was honored as the NL Most Valuable Player in 2014. He won the World Series with the Dodgers in 2020.

Clayton and Ellen, high school sweethearts who married in 2010, are natives of Dallas and the parents of four children: Cali Ann, Charley, Cooper and Chance. 

The couple founded Kershaw’s Challenge after Ellen met a 9-year-old Zambian girl named Hope, who had battled the HIV epidemic her entire life. That nonprofit, which has raised more than $20 million, serves vulnerable and at-risk children in Los Angeles, Dallas, Zambia and the Dominican Republic.

The following highlights from the Kershaws’ interview have been edited lightly for brevity and clarity:

• Clayton on Christian Faith and Family Day: “We have a lot of guys in all different walks of their faith on the team. To be able to stand up for Jesus and talk about your testimony is pretty cool. … Jesus helps us through tough times, with our family struggles, whatever it may be. And ultimately, our hope is in Jesus.”

• Ellen on the importance of sharing faith with their children: “For Clayton and I, it is the foundation of our family. So we have hoped and prayed that our kids would come to know the Lord at a young age. And that’s something that we try to teach them about on a daily basis. We read the Bible with them.”

• Ellen on a special Vacation Bible School for children of Dodgers players and coaches: “It really is just like a kids’ camp where we did everything from crafts and skits and broke into small groups. It really was cool because the coaches’ kids, who are all now teenagers and young adults, they were some of the counselors. So it really was a multigenerational Dodgers family. 

“It was really fun, and we ended it with the Dream Center. They’re a Christian organization, and all of the kids did a service project with them and stuffed backpacks full of school supplies for kids in need.”

• Clayton on the influence of faith in the couple’s marriage: “That’s a deep question, but I’ll do my best. I think, ultimately, when I see everybody here that’s come out to see us talk about our faith, that’s very, very humbling. But it’s also pretty overwhelming because this is not something that we necessarily ever thought was going to be possible. I don’t know why I was given a gift to throw a baseball the way I did. God gave me a gift to throw a baseball. 

“And Ellen was given a passion of going to Africa, and it collided with Kershaw’s Challenge, with our charity, and now it’s colliding here with our Christian faith day. We really don’t know what God has in store for us in our lives and in our marriage. But this is pretty cool. I know that.”

• Ellen on setting priorities: “A good example is, when I wanted to go to Africa when I was a teenager, I was so overwhelmed by the blanket of poverty over there. I was just kind of crippled with this fear of, ‘What good can I actually do?’ Poverty is so overwhelming there. And the first time I went over there, and I held my first baby — an orphan — everything changed. And it was just about that one person. If I could change the life of that one little girl, I realized, then that is why the Lord has called me over here. 

“So for Clayton and I, it is about prioritizing and wanting to go deep with a few rather than trying to change everything all at once. But the Lord has been faithful. Even Kershaw’s Challenge, it started with one little girl, and God has continued to open doors. Never underestimate what he is able to do. 

“Yes, we’re pulled in different directions. But the Lord has definitely guided us and showed us where to insert ourselves. We realize we can’t do it all on our own.”

• Clayton on the value of friendships with Christian teammates: “I think the great thing about playing baseball is that you get to interact with people from all different walks of life, all different countries, all different backgrounds of faith. And you really get to see that there’s not one way to do it. You know, there’s not one way to follow Jesus. 

“Following Jesus is our first step, right? We all have to follow Jesus, and the Bible tells us how to do that. But it looks a lot different in different places, and it looks a lot different in a baseball stadium than when we go back home. That’s why I love having guys on the team that we can talk to about it.

“Obviously, baseball is not the end-all be-all. We realize that there’s a lot more people struggling with a lot more serious things than playing a game. But when you’re going through tough times or you don’t get to play or you’re struggling, having somebody in your corner is important. 

“And I would encourage anybody to have that, whether you just have a faith group at your church, whether you just have a buddy that you can talk to. It can be as informal as that. I think people get a little bit turned away from the ‘church Christianity’ because it seems so formal, and there’s so many rules, but that’s not it at all.

“It’s just about how you follow Jesus every single day. That’s it. It’s just so simple. And I think it gets lost in all these different things. It gets brought up in politics or whatever it is. But it’s just as simple as, ‘Hey, I follow Jesus.’ … I just love how simple our faith really is when it comes down to it.”

Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for ReligionUnplugged.com and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.