READERS' EXCHANGE

 

His House

In a recent issue we told something of the story of Ben Boothe, the young man engaged in a ministry with troubled youth who was dropped from the payroll of his congregation because he would not repudiate Pat Boone. At that time Ben was displaced because a fire destroyed the house he was using in ministering to these dope-afflicted kids, so we invited all communications sent to us until he could get an address. His new address is His House, 303-B Main St., Ft. Worth 76101. That is right downtown where the action is, a store front where youth can come and sing, play, pray, talk and eat. They have special programs two or three nights a week, and even through the day there is activity. In a recent visit to His House I saw carpet samples scattered over the floor alongside a homemade speaker’s stand. “Here they can play and sing,” Ben explained, “and where we can witness for Jesus.”

Ben found this spot while in search of a runaway child. When he told the wealthy attorney who owned the building what he was up to, it was given to him rent free. It is in the night club area of Ft. Worth.

His House has as its mission “To contact troubled youth in the general Ft. Worth area, and give aid or relief to their immediate needs, both physical and spiritual, with the intention of helping youth find a positive, meaningful role in life.”

To do this they are developing three areas of ministry. One is on the streets where the kids are late at night, and at drug parties, hangouts, and rock festivals. Another is a mobile ministry where kids are taken from the streets in a bus and taken to camps. The third area is at His House where a program of study, prayer, discussion is underway. It is the “coffee house” approach.

A number of our people in the area have rallied to Ben’s assistance, and he now has a voluntary assistant or two. His House is now duly organized for humanitarian service, so your contributions are deductible. He needs to be sustained on regular basis, year after year, by a few who believe in the urgency of this kind of effort. All contributions are handled by a recording secretary, and a strict record is made of all expenditures. Your contribution will be acknowledged and recorded. You will also be placed on the mailing list for progress reports of the work.

Atlanta Forum

The Sixth Annual Unity Forum, held in Atlanta in July, was an exciting experience for those who could attend. The atmosphere well reflected “The Unity of the Spirit,” which was the theme. Atlanta Christian College, an Independent Christian Church institution, along with Brookvalley Church of Christ, hosted the affair.

The participants demonstrated that unity is the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, for they represented varying doctrinal interpretations and yet treated each other as brothers. Their presentations were well received, with good audiences for all sessions, at the Westside Christian Church, adjacent to the college campus.

The outstanding thing about these forums, apart from what participants might say, is the “fellowship of the Spirit” that soon becomes evident. Something important happens when men of different and divisive backgrounds allow themselves to sit down together and discover the real meaning of brotherhood.

The seventh forum of this series will be held next year in the Bay area of California. More details will be forthcoming.

Mini-Meetings

In my last report I told of some of my experiences in rural Ohio, and before that made brief reference to meetings in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Washington, D. C.

Since then I have been to Kansas City, Corpus Christi and Weatherford (Texas), Denver and Grand Junction (Colorado), and Bakersfield, Fullerton, and Torrance (California).

Before the summer is gone I will have another assignment or two in Texas, then in the fall I will be off to the south and midwest. Since these meetings were intended as personal visits with friends (usually new friends) in their homes, along with those they invite, I have refrained from announcing them in this column. Too, being something of a controversial figure, I did not want public knowledge of my presence to be a problem to anyone. This has worked very well, but there has been the problem of interested people in the area, wanting to attend such gatherings, but not knowing of them until it was too late. They would have been welcomed, of course, by my hosts, who knew only to invite those of their acquaintance.

I am going to try to ease this problem by announcing in advance those meetings where I am sure it would be appropriate for anyone to attend, including those to be held in homes. I will check with those who invite me, and if it is desirable that those who attend be limited to those invited by my hosts, or if they prefer that my visit be unannounced, such gatherings will not be mentioned in this column. You are free to invite me with this understanding. If you prefer that I slip in through the backdoor and share in a candlelight service behind drawn curtains, we will do just that and praise the Lord for it. If I should come with the sound of a trumpet that can be heard even in distant congregations, we will do that too. And I will still accept your invitation, getting to you when I can, which even now has to be well into 1972.

I am hopeful that in the future I can arrange these meetings in clusters, two or three in geographical proximity on the same trip. For that reason it is helpful to have invitations that hang loose, leaving me free to fit them together the best I can. You should not hesitate to invite me out of fear that you cannot get a crowd in your home. I will come just to visit with you, you alone or you and your family. Some of my most rewarding experiences have been with very few. I am arranging these meetings with the conviction that they are for Jesus, and he will bring together those he wants for that particular experience.

Here are some mini-meetings that I am free to announce, though I cannot promise they will remain mini. As one sister said in a house meeting in Kansas City as the people kept pouring in, “This is going to be a maxi-meeting!” So if some of these become maxi-meetings that is all right too.

Nashville, Tennessee (Sept. 10-11). contact John Acuff, Box 828, Cookeville, Tn. 38501.

Arab, Alabama, near Huntsville (Sept. 12-14). This will be with Grassy congregation on Guntersville highway, near Arab. Contact Paul Duren, 711 Fifth St., Arab, Al. 35016.

Charleston, Illinois (Sept. 24-26). Contact James R. Ross, Box 172, Charleston, Il. 61920

Baltimore, Maryland (Oct. 8-10) This will be with Boulevard Christian Church and there are plans for a unity meeting. Contact James F. Wood, Sr., 920 Essex Ave., Baltimore, Md. 21221.

Bonne Terre, Missouri (Oct. 22-24) This will be with local Church of Christ. Contact Percy Faenger, 4 Lake Dr., Bonne Terre, Mo. 63628.

In November I go deep into Northern California and probably Oregon, then to Chicago and two other stops in the approximate area. Details on these and other plans in the next report.

All this is loads of fun, spiritually invigorating, time-consuming, and terribly expensive. But so long as the Lord provides I would have it no other way. Surely I am meeting some of the most delightful people in this wide, wide world. As we go along I’ll be telling you about some of them (see Some Church of Christ Heroes in this issue), some I’ve already been with as well as others I am yet to meet. In California, for example, I had Jimmie Lovell, editor of Action, sitting next to me in one of our meetings. I’ll just have to tell you about that old war horse.

 

The club rate of 6 names for $3.00 is still in effect. We do this so that more people might be exposed to our efforts. You can help a great deal by sending us the names of those you believe would be interested in what we are trying to do. You can send as many names as you like, 6 or more, at only 50 cents each. Single subscriptions are $1.00 each. Back copies not bound are 20 cents each. Restoration Review, 1201 Windsor Dr., Denton, Texas 76201