Father Jerome's World Community Sermons

I'll let this Sermon speak for itself. Here is a copy of a Letter that I sent to a local Church some time back:

April 25, 2000

vineyard@vineyard-sanmateo.org

ATTENTION: "You're a Good Man......" The Rev. Charlie Brown, The Vineyard Church of San Mateo

Greetings,

Perhaps you will remember our brief encounter this past Easter Day? I said my name was Nelson, but don't call me Willie! And then I said something to the effect, "You are the gentleman who will be providing us with words of inspiration today?" And when you replied in the affirmative, I said (more or less), "I hope that it will be from within yourSelf - from your Soul - and not from what someone told you or that you had read somewhere!"

Well, I'm not sure that that admonition became reality that day (as to what you "preached"), but it - and the entire Service - was impressive, including your anecdotes! And I trust that your associate - Ken, I believe, was his name - passed on to you the note that I left with him for you, recommending that you might read (SHOULD you have the time, in your busy Vineyard schedule), and possibly find of interest, one of my webpages on the Internet.
(at: https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/Qufd.html)

And whether you have had time to do so yet or not (the first page is 37 hours of reading time and there are over 1500 more pages!)......YES, I AM Father Jerome, which is my Ordained Christian and professional name, my birth name being Nelson Jerome Ra-U. And, as you might read upon a number of my other webpages, I am a homeless Cleric of the Ancient Order and I do conduct a number of Ministries, both locally and on the Web, at: https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/SanMateoMinistry.html; https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/Quantum.html; and https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/truthtrust.html.

The point of this communication is, however again, that I was duly impressed with your Easter Service......to the extent that I would like to make a proposal. But before I get into the Proposal, I'd like to elaborate further on why I am making this Proposal and why it is to the Vineyard.

Actually, whether your words of inspiration had anything to do with it or not, or whether it was the day - Easter (I was born on Easter, 1940) - that Sunday night I had my own inspiration, from within, from my Soul, and from Infinite Consciousness (God), of which we are all a part thereof! Anyway, this was more of a personal inspiration/communication, in that I KNOW Him (as Carl Jung did say, when asked if he believed in God, did so reply, "I don't need to believe in God. I KNOW Him!") And when I say that I KNOW Him, I think I may probably be going beyond your own perception and conceptualization of Infinite Consciousness (God). In fact - and you may find this next statement to be a bit unusual, but you will have to read my Website pages to see the Truth of the statement - I can truly say that I KNOW God and Christ, but that my KNOWING of Jesus is but minimal! Of course, I say that it is minimal ONLY from the perspective and viewpoint of yourself and most others of today's civilization, limited as such are to the Biblical, folkloric, mythic, legendary and passed-down-oral-history aspects and perspectives of written secular history, which I am NOT a student of nor any kind of expert therein. And I say such, because my KNOWING, of Christ, goes quite beyond such secular KNOWING (or even Carl Jung's KNOWING!), to the extent that I have had the privilege of both "Being there", WITH Christ upon the Cross (actually, in His Mind!), and have even "shaken His hand" (actually, He shook MY hand, upon my Graduation/Ordination), as well as having been permitted access TO the Very Mind of God, OF Infinite Consciousness Him/HerSelf! Of course, these are experiences that any one of us - of humanity - could just as well have experienced, in lieu of mySelf. The details of such realities, of What IS, in both human society AND the Cosmos, as well as of All That Is, start at: /Qufd.html.

And I note the aforenoted items merely that you might come to KNOW Who I AM - the humble, impoverished Servant, of God and of one and all, that I AM - I AM THAT I AM - and no more!

Because what is important, is that one can TRUST another, and perceive/see - to the deepest depths of Consciousness - as to Who and What a person "is", AS that part and parcel OF the WHOLE of God's Creation, which one IS!

Now that you KNOW that I am nothing - but merely that which I AM (one's "value" and realities are in one's works and deeds - what one says, and does, and IS!), I would like to get to KNOW YOU better, AND the Vineyard, especially with relation TO what I am about to Propose. I don't know if you might remember the famous Princeton University theologian, Harvey Cox, but in his outstanding book, "The Secular City", he more or less makes the statement that God is NOT to be found (anymore, as it was back in the "old days") nowadays, in the tribal hogans NOR the pews or premises of today's churches. So WHERE IS He/She to be found, according to Harvey Cox? Why, IN THE STREETS - among the homeless, among the "least of these, thy brethren", and among those in need OF His/Her "ministrations"! THAT is where one might find Him/Her, AND God's PEOPLE - those who Serve Him/Her, and His/Her children - humanity- in whatever their needs may be! (See my Webpages at:
https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/page3.html and https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/sermon1.html)

And such is the reason that I bring the Proposal that I do. Because - and even though I was most impressed with the Vineyard, I DO see it "falling short" (as we have all - including myself - fallen short!), of both God's and Harvey Cox's idealizations. The Vineyard IS a nice, comfortable, close-knit Church - which is fine, FOR all of the members thereof! Oh, yes, I noted - on your Website - your Outreach Program, of "Doing Good Unto..." thy neighbors and others, every once in a while, in the "small ways" that you did note.

So let me ask: WHY should such a small "Outreach" Program, BE SUFFICIENT, for the Vineyard, WHEN YOU HAVE IT WITHIN YOURSELVES, as Christ has said, TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD? (And when I quote Christ, it may NOT necessarily be a quotation from the Christ Jesus whom YOU know, but instead from one of the four earlier incarnations of Christ, which MY Soul is more likely to KNOW!) YOU (the Vineyard) HAVE THE SPIRIT! And you have the truly dedicated Christian (OF Christian SPIRIT, NOT "religion"!) people, who MIGHT VOLUNTEER to "Do Unto Others...", in Service, TO our Lord and to humanity!

What I am saying is that, even though the Vineyard is "comfortable", as a Church (and I am not denigrating the Church, because, as you do note, Jesus apparently did say that the Church WAS His Work!), for Christ, His/Her Work is not necessarily WITHIN the Church, but instead, WITHOUT of the Church! In other words, IN His/Her Outreach Programs, AS instituted and enabled BY His/Her Church-people! In such a way, Christ would have His/Her people BRING UNTO Him/Her, those who are without of the "fold", that all such might come to KNOW Him/Her, in rehabilitation OF their very Lives! (And when I say "fold", I don't mean a body of "believers", but instead, a body of KNOWERS!)

Additionally, what the Vineyard has, as necessary FOR a significant Outreach Program, is your multimedia approach, as contrasted with the dour traditional Church approaches of most other Churches. Because, IF one is to "reach" another person in need OF His/Her "Outreach", it must be in a wholistic manner, which touches not only one's mentality, but also one's "body" and SOUL! THIS, the Vineyard can do, WITH the dedicated volunteers to do so!

BUT, most importantly, WHAT would be the MISSION OF such an Outreach Program? Why, as Christ (the one I KNOW!) has so charged us - to ELIMINATE Lucifer's NEGATIVITY, from this world and from individuals! And HOW am I proposing to do such a thing? By extending the Vineyard Outreach Program (as a start), TO THE HOMELESS ADULT SINGLES of San Mateo County!

Okay, some further background here. Myself and others (such as John Kelly, past Director of Samaritan House) have participated in the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) Program of San Mateo County formation/development meetings, an interfaith coalition of 15 Churches of San Mateo County, exploring and attempting to find solutions and SHELTER for the homeless of San Mateo County. And although the IHN will be, I understand, starting a minimal Shelter Program sometime this May (for, I understand, only 14 persons), I have dropped out of the effort, because it is concentrating exclusively ON HOMELESS FAMILIES - NOT Singles, AT ALL! Of course - (and here is where I get in a bit of "societal analysis", as a Societal Systems Theoretician. See my Website for more societal analyses!) - the political "mileage", for both the Churches and the associated Social Service agencies, is much more WHEN serving families, as clients, than singles. But then, all involved can get to avoid confronting those "intractable and unresolvable problems" which are especially endemic with single homeless adults, such as substance abuse and mental problems, which are characteristic of the "Lost homeless", as I have called them on my Website pages dealing with homeless issues.

Anyway, as a model for homeless shelter programs, the IHN has some good points and some flaws. The flaws are that it is a "bureaucracy", of certain "vested interests" (especially those Social Service agencies that are seeking to expand their client-base, their "empire", and, consequently, their public funding!), in both the 15 Churches and in the Social Service agencies affiliated with the Program, such as Samaritan House, the San Mateo County Shelter Network, and the San Mateo County Coalition on Homelessness, among others. (See my Webpage, at https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/sermon14.html, for further discussion on the IHN and see another Webpage, at https://www.angelfire.com/ca/sanmateoissues/page5.html, in the second commentary therein, for further discussion of the funding of San Mateo County shelters.) Between the limited organizational support available from such County agencies (FOR the CLIENTS, NOT participating non-profit organizations!) and the slowly-moving Church "bureaucracies", it is a wonder that anything has finally transpired, as to those Churches providing brief-stay hospice-type facilities for the homeless AND the volunteers to run the Program.

Yet, on the other hand, THAT is the major strength of the Program - a group of DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS! (Although whether those volunteers can provide dedicated AND INTENSE client-support-services remains to be seen, because such a level of support is just not required for families, generally. I have a feeling, though, that Vineyard volunteers CAN provide the intensive one-on-one support - AND take such training therefor - which many single homeless adults may need!)

And the other strength of the Program (although questionable also, in my estimation!), is that GOVERNMENT - local, county, state and federal - is PROVIDING THE FUNDS to operate the Program! Now, if you will remember, I noted that the IHN Program is FOR FAMILIES ONLY!

However, the governmental agencies - through Samaritan House - are ALSO FUNDING the one and only Winter Shelter for the SINGLE homeless person of San Mateo County, and for this current year, the funding - for a 90 bed facility, from November through March, is over $3 million dollars, as proposed! And that Winter Shelter Program does practically NOTHING, as to eliminating ANY NEGATIVITY in a homeless person's life (in fact, from my own personal experience, the Winter Shelter REINFORCES and SUPPORTS the negativity of the homeless person's existential situation), NOR provides a PERMANENT housing-situation, which might be conducive to enabling a single homeless person TO GET ON WITH THEIR LIFE, of "Being of Service", to one and all, AS they might so BE, IF they were not homeless, AND they were given the chance and opportunity to do so! In this respect, the nominal Social Service agencies have nothing to offer but simple remedial "bandaids".

ANYWAY - and this is my Proposal to the Vineyard - I think that the Vineyard COULD DO MUCH BETTER, for the single homeless person of San Mateo County, THAN IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, and the Vineyard could do it, WITH CARING AND DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS, and, at the same time, have BOTH the Program operation AND THE HOUSING ITSELF, FUNDED BY those same governmental agencies! YOU - the good Christian people of the Vineyard - could practically, AND EFFICIENTLY, ELIMINATE single-adult homelessness in San Mateo County......FOR those single adults WHO ARE WILLING to get Lucifer's negativity OUT OF THEIR LIVES - GIVEN the chance, and the opportunity, TO DO SO! YOU - could be INSTRUMENTAL, in "saving" another!

SO, SUCH IS MY CHALLENGE, to the Vineyard, to do as Christ has so admonished, in "STRETCHING ONESELF" - as a Christian AND as a person, in "Doing Unto Others...", THAT which might be done, and provided, AS A RESULT OF one's caring, one's empathy, one's Giving, one's PERSONAL "abilities", to Do Unto, and For, ANOTHER, IN NEED thereof, that which a caring VOLUNTEER might so provide. And the support, the housing, and the funding, would be, at the least, from such governmental agencies, with the Vineyard INCURRING NO COST WHATSOEVER (nominally)!

In other words, what I am proposing IS THAT THE VINEYARD REPLACE THE EXISTING homeless Program for single adults, WITH a Vineyard Outreach Program, THAT WOULD WORK, because it would go well beyond what the current Program provides, IN TURNING a single person's LIFE AROUND, and replacing one's NEGATIVITY WITH THE POSITIVITY OF CHRIST - AS provided, and assisted, BY Vineyard volunteers! The entire $3 million governmental budget would now be providing housing - not for 90 persons, but for OVER 400, and not for only 4 months, BUT YEAR ROUND, until that homeless person could FIND THEMSELVES and "get on" with their lives! And, of course, the Vineyard volunteers - providing the CARING one-on-one intensive PERSONAL OUTREACH, to each client (in replacement of the Social Service agency approach, WHICH DOES NOT WORK!), would BE the "instruments" OF God's work, that He/She has so intended FOR His/Her people to BE!

THIS IS A TENTATIVE PROPOSAL! It would be Vineyard's responsibility (NOT mine - I can provide inspiration and conceptualization, NOT management - I am NOT a "manager" NOR a "leader-guru" of any sort!) CAN Vineyard be "stretched"? CAN Vineyard CARE? Can you encompass such a HUMANITARIAN and CHRISTIAN "cause" (OF the SPIRIT!), as I have so proposed here? If so, I'd be pleased, as a humble Servant of Christ, to sit down and discuss this further with you. Such is my CHALLENGE! Let me hear from you, one way or another. And be sure to read my Website, at /Qufd.html, for further inspiration.

Sincerely,

Aum, Peace, Amen!
Jerome.
Reply to: fatherjeromeusa@fiwd.org