HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES 

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: SAT 01/09/93
Section: RELIGION
Page: 1
Edition: 2 STAR

A HEAVENLY TOUCH
Outreach revitalizes downtown church

By RICHARD VARA, 
Houston Chronicle Religion Writer Staff

ST. John's United Methodist Church is the spiritual shelter for Tony Thomas, a 32-year-old who used to be a homeless crack addict.

The 76-year-old church at 2019 Crawford has opened its doors to downtown's homeless, and has rescued Thomas from a year-long, drug-marked odyssey on Houston's streets. The doors may open wider still as St. John's revives under the pastorate of the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell.

Caldwell, among Houston's best-known pastors, directs one of the area's most dynamic Methodist churches, the 6,500-member Windsor Village United Methodist Church at 6000 Heatherbrook near Missouri City.

Although placing one church under the wing of a stronger one is not a novel procedure, Methodist officials are breaking new ground by putting an inner-city church under the aegis of a successful suburban congregation. Although Windsor Village provides the choir and pastor and pays the bills, St. John's remains autonomous.

Thomas, a Jones High School graduate and former Marine, has been off crack for several months, a recovery that earned him a return to his mother's home. He is St. John's handyman, a volunteer cook and a member of the church's board of trustees.

"They showed an interest in us (homeless)," Thomas said. "They didn't try to push us aside or make us sit in the back or sit us on the front row and make a spectacle of us."

As Thomas' life has turned around, so has the life of St. John's.

Once St. John's had only a handful of members. Sunday's 10 a.m. service now attracts 400-500 worshipers, including 50-75 homeless people. The church serves 300 meals weekly to the needy, after Sunday morning worship and after a 5 p.m. Wednesday service.

That success buoys Caldwell.

"We saw St. John's as an excellent opportunity to deliver help and hope to the residents of downtown Houston," Caldwell said. "We felt we had the commitment, the compassion and the competence to effectively deliver the ministry to the homeless residents of that community with grace and dignity."

Caldwell has designated Rudy Rasmus , a real estate broker and part-time seminarian, as St. John's coordinator of ministry. Caldwell attributes St. John's success to the dedication of Rasmus and his wife, Juanita.

For Rudy Rasmus , guiding activities at St. John's has been life-altering. "Before, I knew (homeless) problems existed, but I didn't touch it hands-on," said Rasmus , a second-year divinity student at the University of St. Thomas. "I kind of stayed away from it.

"But then I started to see the faces," he said. Some faces he recognized as those of neighborhood friends with whom he grew up in Houston. Others he recognized as belonging to clients and individuals he met through his brokerage business.

"A lot of those (homeless) folks know our church members and vice versa," Rasmus said.

Just a few paychecks away

The church members also know that they could easily be among the homeless, Caldwell said.

"One of the things we stress is that a lot of us are only two or three paychecks away from where the members of the homeless community are," Caldwell said.

Knowing the homeless personally has shown Rasmus the physical and spiritual toll of homelessness. Many homeless people will not attend services because they think they are unwelcome. Intimidated by fear, shame or poor self-image, many wait until the parking lot clears before they enter the church for a meal, Rasmus said.

Thomas knows the feeling.

He began attending St. John's 10 months ago when the Rev. Jerry Stitt was pastor. Stitt, now pastoring in East Texas, sponsored a feeding program on Sundays. Thomas admits that he volunteered to cook to have first chance at the food.

When Caldwell took over St. John's last August, Thomas and his fellow homeless were surprised and suspicious. There was unspoken tension between the haves and the have-nots.

Rasmus and the church members found a solution: genuine concern.

"Love is the whole process," he said. "It is just providing a spot where the homeless know they can be loved."

"I make it a point to shake every hand there Wednesday and Sunday," he said. "I also make it a point to hug as many as I can."

Such warmth and friendliness convinced Thomas and other homeless people to join.

Concern pays off

Members' and volunteers' concern makes the difference, Rasmus said. St. John's members wear casual clothes to worship so homeless people blend in. The 60-member volunteer corps cooks meals and helps distribute food.

"Our goal has been to literally look out on the congregation and not tell who has a home and who doesn't," Rasmus said. Now some homeless come to the church not for food, but for affection, he said.

Rasmus and Caldwell take turns leading the services. The Windsor Village church choir and a regular group of several congregants travel to the inner city to help St. John's.

Others from Windsor Village have found St. John's a more convenient worship center and now consider it their home church. They are people "sensitive to homelessness," Rasmus said. "A lot of them work downtown and are familiar with encountering folk who haven't had any place to sleep in the past week."

Rasmus is excited about the cooperation, since successful suburban churches often flee or ignore the inner city. Texas Annual Conference area provost Asbury Lenox said the pairing shows what happens when a penniless, memberless inner-city church has access to resources and leadership.

"We feel they are providing a model not only in Texas, but also for the denomination," Lenox said.

Lewis Jackson, Methodist district superintendent over St. John's, said the church was on the verge of closing when Windsor Village volunteered to help.

More important to Rasmus , the effort demonstrates what successful black churches can do for black community problems.

"Eighty to 90 percent of the people in the street are black," Rasmus said. "It is an African-American problem. It only makes sense for African-Americans to come to their aid."

At St. John's, Rasmus envisions establishing a day center where homeless people could shower and wash clothes. The church also is considering drug treatment programs. Volunteers now help run group self-help sessions.

Thomas wants to be part of the growth at St. John's. He is helping renovate the church's interior and is eager to be an example to his former companions on the street.

"We used to get high on the streets together," he said. "I could think I am better than they are. I am clean now, my hair is short. But I am no better than they are."

St. John's Downtown    2019 Crawford    Houston, TX 77002    (713) 659-3237    (713) 659 2236 Fax