The Rev. Kennetha Bigham-Tsai of the Connectional Table talks with the Rev. Rudy Rasmus, senior pastor of St. John’s Church in Downtown Houston. Together with his wife Juanita, Rev. Rasmus leads a large and diverse congregation crossing many of the barriers — race, class, gender/sexuality — that separate people.
With support from partners like singer Beyoncé, St. John’s ministry and outreach to the Houston community has had deep and lasting impact, providing food for thousands of families as well as permanent supportive housing for those experiencing homelessness. Beyoncé, who grew up at St. John’s and has helped fund projects such as Hurricane Harvey relief and global anti-hunger food drives, recently contributed $7 million dollars to the church to support families suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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How has systematic racism affected you and how can the church respond?
The Rev. Rudy Rasmus and the Rev. Kennetha Bigham-Tsai discuss systemic racism and the power of the unconditional love of Jesus.
How should the church respond to the pandemics of racism and COVID-19?
The twin pandemics of racism and Covid-19 are discussed in this Connectional Table interview with the Rev. Rudy Rasmus. The Rev. Kennetha Bigham-Tsai explores with him how the church should respond to these crises and learns more about a new book he edited about being Black, Christian and Methodist.
Going forward, how can the United Methodist Church create a vital, relevant and effective ministry for all people?
In this final interview segment, the Rev. Bigham-Tsai and the Rev. Rudy Rasmus discuss how The United Methodist Church can sustain a vital, relevant and effective ministry for all people.
Emerging Methodism Video Series Introduction
Wesley's historic questions were about what to teach, how to teach and what to do. For the next interval of features for the Connectional Table's Emerging Forum we will seek to update these questions for our current moment. We will invite energetic conversation that will illumine our identity which is tied to what and how we teach, our preferred actions, what we do and our abiding hopes as we envision the future United Methodist Church.
About Emerging: God Is Doing a New Thing in United Methodism
This video interview is part of a series created for "Emerging: God Is Doing a New Thing in United Methodism," which is an online forum created by the Connectional Table to engage United Methodists with a diversity of perspectives from across our worldwide connection in thinking deeply about what is emerging at this time in the life of our connection.