Blueprint Church: St. John's United Methodist Church
August 25, 2002

www.stjohnsdowntown.org
By Christian Washington

The Death, Burial and Resurrection of St. Johns Downtown
Like many stately old downtown churches, St. John's went from being a large power church to a dead congregation, as the middle class migrated to the suburbs in the 70's and 80's. By 1992, the community surrounding the church was home to many of Houston's 10,000 plus homeless and unemployed people, and St. John's church membership had dwindled to nine. The St. John's edifice had fallen into extreme disrepair and the prospects for rebuilding a traditional Methodist congregation there were very low.

The Methodist bishop asked Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of the highly successful Windsor Village UMC in Houston, to take over the landmark downtown church and he accepted the challenge with one condition. He wanted the freedom to take an unconventional approach to building a church which would involve some calculated risks. With nothing to lose the bishop said yes, and Pastor Caldwell promptly recruited a husband and wife layperson team to become pastors of the downtown "mausoleum." Rudy and Juanita Rasmus had no formal theological training at the time and, as Rudy confesses, "I could not preach!" But the unlikely pair did have a keen knowledge of building and running organizations, financial accountability, real estate development and an abundance of street smarts. They also had Pastor Caldwell mentoring them along the way.

Restoring Hope and Removing Barriers to Entry
Rudy Rasmus grew up not far from the downtown church and studied business in college. He had become acquainted with the homeless, hungry and hurting people of Houston as a businessman and real estate professional. Rudy's background with broken people -- tenants in apartments or guests in motels -- brought him face to face with the causes and effects of homelessness, drug addiction, and hopelessness. Rudy says, "I feel comfortable speaking to these people, and serving these people because I know these people." The mission statement of St. Johns became to restore hope, faith, and love to the entire community; and to remove the barriers of classism, sexism, and racism from the worship experience.

Step one was to transform the former parsonage into a facility to serve the homeless, hungry and unemployed people of the community. After installing a commercial kitchen to prepare the meals, St. John's started serving meals to the homeless people in the church sanctuary. Using the sanctuary as a cafeteria made it a much more comfortable place for the community to come to for worship. This strategy also had a transformational effect on the "volunteers" from the congregation who were serving. In turn, the volunteers recruited more volunteers who became members and this growth cycle continues today.

Step two was to create a barrier-free weekend worship experience for the types of hurting people the church served throughout the week. Worship has only one speed at St. John's - "hyper drive." This is not your "father's methodist church": There is no hymnal in sight, and the style of music is decidedly "metho-costal." The result is a high energy experience that can lift the trials of the week off of virtually anyone with a pulse. But there is more happening than meets the ear. The pastor is always dressed in blue jeans, a tee shirt and a baseball cap and speaks in "plain English." Pastor Rudy looks like the people the church serves, and this intentional fashion choice visually carries the message of the St. John's principle of "barrier-free" worship.

The Rasmus' ministry strategy is probably best expressed in their mantra of "unconditional love and acceptance." The St. John's Church has grown from, nine members in 1992 to over 6000 today, on the strength of loving, respecting, and accepting anyone, regardless of their current station in life. The little parsonage next door has been redeveloped and renamed Bread of Life (a separate 501c3) with a budget of nearly $2 million, over 40 employees, and over 350 member volunteers to serve. Bread of Life serves over 6000 meals, 1100 showers, 300 HIV tests and nearly 20 job placements per month. Additionally, the main building has undergone a major renovation with the addition of a school targeting at-risk children. That school, The St. John's Academy, has an enrollment of 250 students, employs 50, and attracts over 100 volunteers, all on a $1.4 million budget. St. John's also sees economic development and job creation as a vital part of its mission.

Unconditional Love and Acceptance in Action
My first visit to St. John's was memorable and falls into the "only at St. Johns" category. While a guest speaker was preaching, a dangerous looking young man came running down the aisle, jumped on the stage and proceeded to pace back-and-forth behind the pastor while muttering something to himself. Since I was seated in the front row, my reaction was a combination of confusion, crisis management, and self-preservation. I started watching the kid's hands for sudden movements, observing the location of the exits, and looking for possible weapons I could use. In the midst of my anxiety about this seemingly out-of-control situation, I started to notice that everyone else in the building appeared to be calm including the choir behind the stage, the other inhabitants of my row (including Pastor Rudy!), and the guest preacher who continued to speak without a trace of concern. At that point I figured that the kid was a "prop" and would be worked into the sermon, although I couldn't figure out how the pastor's illustration of pre-marital courtship fit in with our increasingly animated intruder. Just then, the preacher finished a point in his sermon and calmly turned his attention to the disheveled figure behind him. The preacher told us that he felt led to stop the sermon and pray for the young man as he slowly started to approach him. He called the elders of the church to come up and join him so they could collectively serve this person's spiritual needs. By the time the six men and women arrived on stage, the troubled kid was standing still, for the first time, and had bowed his head. The pastor then asked for everyone to stand and extend their hands toward the brother as they prayed a powerful prayer of healing, love and restoration. After the prayer the young man responded to the handclaps of praise by joyfully joining into the ovation and leaving the stage with a smile on his face as he followed the elders to an office for counseling. Miraculously, the service continued and many people joined the church that day.

Afterwards, I knew that what I had witnessed could not have happened at most churches. I do not know if the young man had a weapon, but I am sure that his reaction would have been considerably different if he had been faced with a panicked congregation, and physically aggressive ushers. The possible outcomes in a less accepting environment range from total disruption to mortal tragedy. St. John's atmosphere of unconditional love and acceptance caused the congregation to treat that troubled
young man with the same dignity, concern and respect as they would give the pastor of the church.

St. John's is not perfect and it is not for everyone. First time Christians make up more than 65% of the congregation, and for many, St. John's is all they know of "church." That's a good thing in my book.
- CW

 

 

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