Who is Fr. Larry Minter from Valis and what is their importance?

Father Larry Minter is Sherri Solvig's pastor. He is married, a father of three and grandfather of one. Larry employs Sherri at his unnamed church, but he does nothing to help her weed out the creeps and addicts who try to exploit the church's underfunded social programs. Horselover Fat, who truly loves Sherri, concludes that religion is just a sideline at Larry's church. When Sherri loses her remission from cancer, Larry, sadly seems unconcerned.