garden----of----forgiveness
Detroit--Priest
Jubilee--Ministry
Feed--the--hungry
justice--and--peace
Episcopal--Church
Diocese--of--Chicago
Rev.Rodney---Reinhart
Rod---Reinhart
Annette----Broome
Ruby----Walton
Alan---Engle
Bishop----Persell
Bishop Jeffery---Lee
Faith--on--the--Front--Line
Chicago---State---University
Christ---Church---Cran---brook
Nativity---Episcopal---Church
Episcopal---Peace---Fellowship
Mass-for--the--healing--of-the--earth
Daily---South---Town
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DAVID CRUMM: Priest helps change the world
June 4, 2004
BY DAVID CRUMM
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
The Rev. Rodney Reinhart, 55, is leaving Michigan and taking his
spiritual creativity with him to a pair of small Episcopal churches on
Chicago's south side.Before he pulls out of metro Detroit next week, I
asked him if he wouldn't mind leaving behind a few of his best ideas.He
was way ahead of me. "The two programs that I worked on hardest are in
the hands of very good local committees and will continue here," he
said.
Back in 1985, Reinhart helped to refocus the religious community's
attention on the AIDS crisis by organizing an ecumenical Christmas
service for HIV-positive people and their families and friends. Two
decades later, the event still draws a huge crowd.Then, in 2000,
Reinhart tackled an even larger problem: religious biases that fuel
conflict around the world. His idea, developed with the Rev. Ed Mullins
of Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, was to hold an annual
World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation. That service, built around a
series of prayers for peace Reinhart wrote, has grown into an important
interfaith gathering in metro Detroit. The prayers have been borrowed by
other religious groups across North America and Japan. "I'm not a
wealthy man, and I don't think I'm terribly brilliant," Reinhart said.
"I just believe that if people are creative and have the courage to
follow through on their ideas, it's possible to change the world on a
shoestring budget."
That approach to ministry makes Reinhart distinctive. He has found
simple, yet moving, ways to connect the force of faith with the many
challenges churning in his restless social conscience. As he described
this creative process, he said he's merely borrowing from the core of
Christianity.
"In the prayer of consecration, a priest takes bread and wine and they
become the very presence of our Lord," Reinhart said. "When Jesus chose
bread and wine, he didn't reach for anything exceptional. He used the
simplest elements of human life."
So, when Reinhart thinks of a new approach to ministry, he reaches no
further than "the suffering and joy, breathing and moving, births and
deaths that are such normal parts of our lives." Little twists refocus
people's vision, he said. His AIDS service is really just a Christmas
party, except that the invitations go to people often excluded from such
events. And his World Sabbath is just a series of prayers, but they're
voiced by a rainbow's breadth of religious leaders.
One of those prayers says, " In ancient times, when peace was threatened
. . . God would set a priest before the people and command the priest to
call the people to prayer. Today . . . we must call the people to pray."
For 20 years in Detroit, Reinhart called people to pray at parishes in
Wayne and Oakland counties. Recently, he said farewell to his
parishioners at St. James Episcopal Church on Grosse Ile. Next week, he
will call people to pray at St. Clement in Harvey and at St. Joseph-St.
Aidan in Blue Island, Episcopal parishes along the southern rim of
Chicago.
At first glance, they're unremarkable parishes among the thousands of
churches dotting the Midwest. But, looking closer, these are parishes
full of all the pressing needs of everyday urban life. Their
neighborhoods are a diverse mix of African-American and Hispanic
families. One parish runs an extensive program to feed homeless people.
It's the kind of place where Reinhart loves to work.
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Christmas
Soldiers.
Press Release
Archbishop Rev.Rowan Williams
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