Shalom Gathering in South Carolina

Columbia:

The Confederate flag was flying overhead at the Capital Building as my host drove me by on the way to the Word of God Church and Ministries—the host church for the 13th Annual Communities of Shalom Celebration in South Carolina. There really are two
States in South Carolina: one Black and the other White.

Thirty Shalom Site Coordinators and over two hundred members of shalom teams gathered for two days for spiritual support, biblical teaching and practical workshops. Youth groups from several churches came to sing and participate. I was there to bring greetings from the National Shalom Office and meet with all the shalom coordinators for planning purposes. Rev. Rudy Rasmus was there as the featured speaker for the event.

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As Pastor Rudy mounted the pulpit to preach about shalom ministry, we all wondered about his weird beard. A slim, agile, energetic, compelling, good looking man in his early 50’s, Pastor Rudy sported long braded stands with beads at the ends that danced when he spoke. It sort of reminded me of a black Jack… in Pirates of the Caribbean without the eye make up. So this is Beyonce’s pastor from St John’s United Methodist Church in Houston.

“I grew the beard as a filter,” he explained. “It filters out peoplejavascript:void(0)
Saved who judge me by my appearance.” Before God touched his heart and transformed his life, Rudy ran a “borderline bordello” in Houston, he admits. Now he pastors a Methodist congregation of over 9,000 members (3,000 of which are or were formerly homeless). An urban prophet in the tradition of Hosea, Pastor Rudy preaches a gospel of unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness, and touches people deeply in a way that heals and transforms.

“The Power of Touch” was the theme of this weekend’s Celebration. Touch is also the title of Rudy’s new book. I recommend it.

Various workshops included: Touch Ministry, Gang Awareness, Parenting Partnership, Youth Empowerment, Networking that Works, Angel Food Ministry, Grant Writing and Caregiving.

Shalom Leadership in South Carolina is bold and innovative. Below are some photos of our site coordinators in action.

Mother Shalom

South Central, Los Angeles, was the neighborhood in the city where Communities of Shalom began in 1992. I met Marx Gutierrez from El Salvador who was there attending High School at the time. He remembers what happened at the corner of Florence and Normandy Streets in South Central, LA, when Reginald Denny was pulled out of his truck and beaten while the crowd looked on and the police did nothing; and how the Rodney King beating resulted in a not-guilty verdict for the police and resulted in a major, 3-day uprising in the neighborhood, until the National Guard came in and finally imposed law and order. He can still remember the fires, the bright orange night sky, the mass looting, 45 unsolved killings, the social chaos...And how the United Methodist Churches responded by creating a zone of shalom in 7 neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Today, Marx is a community organizer, and married to Jennifer Gutierrez, Conference Shalom Coordinator in the Calif-Pacific Annual Conference, and Rev. Vilma

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gabriel

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry, Drew University; and International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book. In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives. Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth. When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A Theology of Liberation (Henri Nouwen

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