La Monica Yarbrough (left) and and Linda Chapman (right) of the Anti-Defamation League's Southwest regional office, with Brenda Warren, pastor of First Christian Church in Beaumont, Texas. The Disciples congregation recently earned the ADL's "Community of Respect" award on May 4, 2008. Submitted photo (click to enlarge)

By Heidi Bright Parales, DisciplesWorld contributing writer

BEAUMONT, Texas (5/19/08) — First Christian Church in Beaumont, Texas, recently became the first house of worship in its community to be designated a “Community of Respect.” The designation came from the Southwest Regional Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which serves southern Texas. 

La Monica Yarbrough, ADL Community of Respect project coordinator, presented a banner to the church on Sunday, May 4, during the morning worship service, calling them “an impressive group of trendsetters.”

Yarbrough said the program is new, and encourages organizations to be places where all people are respected and hate is not allowed.

The Community of Respect model is based on the ADL's No Place for Hate program used in area schools. To become a member, an organization must pledge to support this endeavor and implement three activities of their own design within a year’s time.

First Christian began with a six-week study of the world's great religions and a Torah study and tour at Temple Emanuel, a Jewish congregation in Beaumont. 

Their second activity involved team members writing articles on some form of discrimination they had personally encountered. These were published in the church’s weekly newsletter during a month-long period.

Then in early April, the congregation hosted a pulpit exchange with Imam Omar Inshanally of The Sharing Center, a Muslim congregation in Tomball, Texas, said Brenda Warren, First Christian’s pastor. The sermon topic was "Peace in the Words of Mohammed and Jesus."

Elizabeth Gay, current chair of the board, said the activities involved in earning the Community of Respect designation enabled everyone to meet those of other faiths and to hear what people of their own church feel about prejudice. “Telling stories of our own personal experiences with prejudice to the congregation made these issues more real to members of the congregation,” she said. 

Lynn and Mike Rodgers helped the church work toward earning the award. Lynn Rodgers said they found it moving to discuss their experiences with each other and how those experiences affected their lives, particularly their faith in God.

Her husband said the congregation is now looking for new ways to reach out to others and replace hatred with understanding.

Warren is of the same mind. In April, she attended the “Weekend of Compassion” event in Nashville, sponsored by Week of Compassion, the Disciples’ relief and development organization. “I came back home with a new vision for our congregation to truly be a people who act on the issues of compassion and justice,” she said.

Now, First Christian is planning to implement a ministry of local and worldwide compassion and justice with leadership from a couple in the congregation who possess a deep-felt heart for outreach beyond themselves, she said.

During 2008, only five faith institutions in the region have earned the title of Community of Respect, and 11 more are working toward it, according to Yarbrough.

Pastor Warren said the church became involved three years ago at the invitation of Rabbi Barbara Metzinger of Temple Emanuel in Beaumont. During 2006, Temple Emanuel had a pulpit exchange with First Christian.

She expressed pride in the congregation “for taking a stand for compassion and justice at a time when our society struggles with both religious and racial issues.

“This experience has been an educationally enriching and spiritually stretching experience for not only our team members, but also for the entire congregation, as we are reminded that Christ calls us to love our neighbor as ourself,” she said.