Celebrating Spirituality

To celebrate spirituality, Beth and Jenni attended St. John's Methodist Church, in downtown Houston.

St. John's was founded in 1917, but 15 years ago there were only 9 members left. Then Pastors Rudy and Juanita Rasmus took over, starting a huge effort to help feed and house the homeless in the church's inner city neighborhood. Now there are over 9,000 members, including singer Beyonce (who played the Dianna Ross character in "Dreamgirls").

It's hard to describe the experience that Beth and Jenni had at this church. Although they were only two of six white people in the pews, they were openly welcomed.

The gospel orientation (along with the crowd's vocal enthusiasm and hand-waving) is a far cry from their Catholic upbringing, but the music was overwhelmingly beautiful and the sermon down-to-earth and open-hearted. They both found the whole experience incredibly moving.

Afterwards, Beth bought a CD from this young man who had performed during the service. Touted as a "10-year-old musical prodigy," De'Andre K. Nico had a soulful gospel voice and a sweet personality.