Dear Reconciler Family,

The last couple of months have been busy ones for ORM as we seek to share the message and gospel of Reconciliation.  In March I visited the Queen Street Christian Fellowship in Mt. Sterling, KY.  I gave the sermon on reconciliation and then interviewed the two pastors in the photo for a broadcast on KCLE Big Country Radio in Dallas, TX (1560 AM); Pastor Vincent Farris, left, and Pastor James Humphries, right.

Comments from Pastor James Humphries:

Curtis, having you here, along with KEAS Christian Methodist Episcopal Church,  has been a highlight of our year and has opened doors in our community.

The cooperation and interaction between races and church denominations in Mt. Sterling, KY continued this week as Queen Street Christian Fellowship participated in a Gospel singing event at Evergreen Baptist Church this past Saturday, March 24^th.  The event was sponsored by the KEAS CME Church. A number of different churches participated in the community event.  Queen Street Christian Fellowship took their string band and choir (15 people) and did three musical selections.  The event was a great success.  The fellowship and interaction that took place was a wonderful thing to be a part of.

The cooperation continued the next day, on Sunday, March 25, as KEAS hosted a special event at 3 p.m. at the Queen Street Christian Fellowship Church.  The event was attended by members from a Lexington, KY church and other local churches and individuals from the community.  A time of fellowship and refreshments followed the event provided by Queen Street Christian Fellowship.

Note:  The KEAS CME Church sanctuary was severely damaged by a storm and is currently being repaired.  How pleasing when brethren dwell together in unity and cooperation!

On the weekend of April 21-22, my wife Jannice and I joined the New Creation Community Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for their 41^st anniversary.  We served as Associate Pastor there in the Norfolk area from 1974 to 1979.  It was a wonderful experience as we celebrated with a banquet and dance on Saturday evening and told many funny stories of our church experiences.  On Sunday we had a lively and meaningful worship service which included the ordination and installation of a new Senior Pastor, Calvin Simon.  And a deeply moving experience for me was when one of the main event organizers told the congregation that I was one of the main reasons he stayed in the church.  I visited his mon several times when he was 10 years old.  One never knows…

All this was made possible by your prayers and support.  Thank God for you.  May His blessing on you abound.

Curtis May

As I go back through Switzerland, I will have the opportunity to give two workshops on Choice Theory. Most of the time, these workshops are very challenging as they emphasize the power and control we may use within our relationships with important people in our lives. They also encourage people to look at positive solutions to their problems. I gave this workshop to a group of friends after New Year’s and several experienced a real touch from God. It was great to see the healing work of the Father. In Switzerland also, I have, with some friends, created a charity (Shiloh projects). A friend of mine has offered to help me to create a website for advertisement.

Many blessings for your respective ministries.

With love in Christ.

Evelyne O’Callaghan Burkhard (ORM Chapter Leader for Southern Ireland)

Dear Reconciler Family,

The last few months, weeks and days have been characterized as a media feeding frenzy.  A lot has had to do with politics and the presidential election.  However, as you well know, an overwhelming amount of it has to do with race.  Our great “racial divide” has risen to the surface once more.

And although huge advances have been made on race relations over the last few decades, we would be most naïve to believe that we’re living in a “post-racial” period.  One example: In June

2011 three young drunken white men ran over an African American man in Jackson, Mississippi.  Here’s a quote from ORM Reconcile editor and Pastor Neil Earle in an article on the incident:

Three young drunken toughs ran over and beat to death 48-year-old James Craig Anderson in an incredibly premeditated and despicable hate crime that seemed to come screaming out of the crypts of Mississippi’s darkest past.  “Things have changed in this country,” offered one social justice activist, “but they haven’t changed as much as people think.”

One redemptive moment came recently, however, during the trial of the young men.  James’ sister, Barbara Anderson Young, shocked the court room audience with these amazing words:

“We ask that you not seek the death penalty for anyone involved in James’ murder…Our opposition to the death penalty is deeply rooted in our religious faith, a faith that was central in James’ life as well.  [James worked for Nissan and sang in his church choir.]  We also oppose the death penalty because it historically has been used in Mississippi and the South primarily against people of color for killing whites.”

She went on to say, “Our loss will not be lessened by the state taking another man’s life.”  Mrs. Young then stated that her family was praying for peace in the family of the condemned killer and for “racial conciliation” in the South and the whole country.

Thank God for fellow reconcilers like Barbara, and thank God for all of you who every day are helping the cause of peace.  Thank you for your continuous prayers and financial support.  You are making a difference!

In His Service,

Curtis May

P.S. Neil’s entire article may be found on the Glendora, CA New Covenant Fellowship’s website at www.glendorachurch.org.

Dear Reconciler Family,

On February 4, I spoke in Glendora, California, about ORM’s participation at the Reconciliation and Police Legitimacy Summit, hosted by the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.  In many American cities the community and the police are simply at odds, and that especially includes members of ethnic groups who seem to be on the receiving end of most of the police abuses.  Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow, claims that there are more blacks in the prison/parole/probation system today than there were slaves in pre-Civil War America.

Some in law enforcement are now aware of what has slowly become a national scandal – the scandal of incarceration. There has been a movement from overt Jim Crow laws (separate drinking fountains, etc.) to constant harassment, according to David Kennedy, author of “Don’t Shoot.” He cites the case of one young black man named Timothy who was assigned 21 traffic charges in less than 1½ years. Timothy was eventually shot and killed for bolting from his car after yet another police stop. Kennedy mentions “new tools of intimidation” such as draconian drug laws with 15-year “mandatory minimums,” unrealistic penalties and the slow privatizing of the prison system which Atlantic magazine exposed as “the prison-industrial complex.” This is the shocking reality for the last 20 years where it has become financially profitable for communities to keep people locked up – two million jobs now depend on it!

Bernard Melekian, Director of Community Oriented Policing Services, bluntly told the assembled delegates in Washington that this crisis has become a matter of “restoring public trust” between the police and the community. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy commented that this rift between ethnic groups and the law “is rooted in the history of this country. The most visible form of government in most places is the police force.”

Such leaders as Police Chief Dean Esserman of New Haven, C.T., Captain Josh Ederheimer of the Metropolitan Washington Narcotics Investigative Unit, and the inevitable David Kennedy are part of a “new breed” of law enforcement determined to turn things around. They see all sides of this tragic conflict. “No officer leaves for duty in the morning and wants to be involved in an incident that will scar his reputation and cost his city millions of dollars in legal fees,” Bernard Melekian has stated. As Reconcile newsletter has opined for years, that attitude of empathy for all involved is the first necessary step in transforming inner city police work and thus keep justice rolling on like a river.  Jesus did not say, “I was in prison and you said it was all my fault,” but “I was in prison and you visited me.”

I thought I would share this message with you to help keep you informed on what your prayers and donations are doing.  They are helping transform lives in many different venues.

Thank you and God bless you,

Curtis May

Tarrant County can also lay claim to another highlight this Black History Month and that is the career and accomplishments of Wesley Hardeman, the first African-American deputy sheriff in all of Tarrant County.

That might not seem exceptional were it not for the fact that Sheriff Hardeman, who lived from 1906 to 1966, served as a peace officer during the difficult Jim Crow years in the American Southwest. This was 1955, a time when colored people could not drink from the same water fountains as whites and the law was something Hispanics and blacks were often found studiously avoiding.

But not Wesley Hardeman. He was early into the right side of law enforcement when he opened up his own detective agency before becoming a peace officer. In May, 2007 the 84th state legislature in a proclamation honoring Deputy Sheriff Hardeman paid tribute to his “strong religious faith expressed in countless acts of kindness.” Hardeman was exceptional, it stated, in that “he faced challenges above and beyond those confronting his white counterparts, including discriminatory personnel policies and threats to his family, he discharged his duties with exemplary courage, dignity and professionalism.”

Sheriff Hardeman’s daughter, Bernice McDuffie of Lancaster, California, remembers that her dad was not supposed to arrest white people but he did. She recalls one bad moment when her dad and his partner and her were driving in their police cruiser and two white officers pulled them over, arrogantly shining flashlights in their faces. They wrote a ticket to the partner even thought they knew full well who they were. The man who appointed Mr. Hardeman in 1955, Sheriff Harlon Wright, was later voted out of office by hostile electors at the next election even though local TV had proudly covered Mr. Hardeman’s appointment as deputy.

Deputy Sheriff Hardeman was to win many awards for his skill and abilities and fair-mindedness, something the community evidently appreciated as they made him Grand Marshall at many county functions and invited him to speak in area high schools on good citizenship. Black History Month should remember Wesley Hardeman – a man who weathered the storm thorough faith and family.

Dear Reconciler Family,

In January I traveled to Washington, D.C. to take part in a Reconciliation and Police Legitimacy Summit at Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), an office of the U.S. Department of Justice.  My son, Brad, of the Pasadena Police Department was also invited to attend.  We were asked to go by Bernard Melekian (former Pasadena Police Chief) who now serves as Director of COPS.

On January 10, I conducted a two-hour session with a predominately African American audience which included some top COPS office leaders on “The Dream,” referring to Jesus’ dream of Luke 4:16-18 “to preach good news to the poor, and relieve the oppressed, give sight to the blind, and liberate the captives.”  Some feel overlooked for promotions and discriminated against.

On January 11, I participated in an 8-hour Summit on Reconciliation and Police Legitimacy which included a number of police chiefs, COPS leaders, pastors, community development leaders and others.  I spoke and fielded questions for an hour and served as a panelist the rest of the time.

In an interview, Garry McCarthy, Superintendent of Police in Chicago, said: “I understand the historical divide between police and communities of color – it’s rooted in the history of this country. The most visible arm of government is a police force, and the institutionalized governmental programs that promoted racist policies that were enforced by police departments are part of the African American history in this country. And we have to recognize it because recognition is the first step towards finding a cure for what is ailing us.”

David Kennedy, Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College in New York, said that “affected communities view present law enforcement actions through the lens of history creating a narrative…” The narrative says they believe the laws set up by the government are slanted against communities of color.  Whether true or not this belief is acted upon and helps perpetuate our present conditions.

The bottom line is our prayers and examples are much needed in a dangerous and spiritually starved world. Thank you for standing in the gap with us at ORM.  And many thanks for your faithful financial support which helps enable us to do our part.

Curtis May

Dear Reconciler Family,

This month begins our 16^th year of Reconciliation Ministry, so I wanted to remind us of some of the great blessings the Lord has given us.  He has led this ministry so powerfully, and His miracles have been so amazingly evident that I wanted to share them.

With a small, part-time staff, here are a few examples:

• The ORM newsletter, Reconcile, has been able to reach many people worldwide for the last 13 years.  We have gotten excellent feedback over the years and have sent bulk copies for community outreach events.  God has blessed us to be able to maintain the quality of the newsletter over the years.  And I want to thank Neil and Susan Earle, Mike Riley, and Roger Lippross for their incredible work!
• The website at www.ATimeToReconcile.org.  If you haven’t viewed it lately, please do.  We have some timely and educational material on it.  Here’s a comment from David Kennedy, Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College:  “I’ve been looking at Curtis May’s work in anticipation of our upcoming COPS [Community Oriented Policing Services] session and have been hugely impressed.  It’s good to recognize a kindred spirit.  So…could you please introduce us.”  We talked for an hour on the phone, along with ORM Chapter Leaders Ron Washington and Willard High.

David Kennedy, Bernard Melekian and I, along with others, will help conduct a summit on Racial Reconciliation and Police Legitimacy on January 11.  We will meet with the Department of Justice Community Policing Department on January 10^th.  Your prayers would be much appreciated!

• While surfing the site you may want to take note of the many awards and commendations we have received.  Not the least of which is the Key to the City of Memphis and the Human Relations Award.

You all share in these miracles and accomplishments. And I thank God regularly for you all.

Your prayers and financial support are priceless as we move into another year and anticipate what doors God will open to us.

Love and appreciation,

Curtis May

Dear Reconciler Family,

It’s hard to believe we’re in the month of December and another year is approaching.  This new year begins 16 years of successful ministry!  Thank you for your loyal support in helping make it happen.

During the month of November Jannice and I had the opportunity to share in the Annual Outreach Event of the Montgomery, Alabama congregation.  It was a lively and worshipful celebration!  The congregation put on an inspiring program of songs, music, mimes, skits, etc., and the community attendees seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

I gave the sermon on the topic of “Reconciliation.”  It was followed by a delicious meal!  The congregation has had several baptisms of guests who have attended the event.  Go Montgomery and Pastors James Lewis and Arthur Carlisle!

We also had the opportunity to visit the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks and identifies hate groups throughout the country.  Jannice and I also had the opportunity to visit Freedom Church in Georgia.  I gave the sermon on the topic of “Change,” as they have just had a change in pastors.  The new pastor is Lance McKinnon.  The sermon was well received, and many asked us to come back and me to speak again.  Several members are ORM supporters.

I would like to wish you all a wonderful time of Advent celebrations and a Merry and meaningful Christmas!  What a magnificent gift God gave us – His Son!

Thank you again for your prayers and support as we enter a new year.  We are looking forward to some exciting opportunities that are currently in the making!  We are seeking God’s guidance as we proceed.

Love and blessings,

Curtis May

PS: I just received a message from Director of Community Oriented Policing (COPS) Bernard Melekian of the U. S. Justice Department inviting me to participate in a conference on “Racial Reconciliation and Police Legitimacy” on January 11, 2012. It involves police and community relations.  Please pray that God would guide this event and my participation in it. Thank you!

Dear Reconciler Family,

Thank you for your kind support of the Reconciliation Chapter Leaders’ Training Conference in Columbus, Ohio on October 7-9.

It was blessed and inspiring.  We could feel God’s presence throughout the conference.  CEO and ORM Advisory Council member John Connors said this:  “Tremendous weekend retreat!  I think you’ve set the tone for ORM for the next several years.  Congrats!”  We could sense that something special was going on.

I had the opportunity to interview Chapter Leader from Ireland, Evelyne O’Callaghan Burkhard, for a broadcast on KCLE “Big Country” radio in Cleburne, Texas.  You may watch our broadcasts online at www.atimetoreconcile.net.

We also were blessed with a new chapter leader, Larry Hinkle, who is District Pastoral Leader and Pastor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  He was commissioned at the conference.  He will be a fine asset in an area where we don’t have a chapter.

A member of the U.S. Justice Department sat in as an observer at the conference.  Please pray that this will lead to the opening of new doors for the ministry.

On another topic, we at ORM would like to wish all veterans among us a meaningful Veterans’ Day.  And we would also like to wish you all a very happy and uplifting Thanksgiving Day celebration!  We have so much to be thankful for!

I thank God for all of you and for your being such a blessing to the Ministry of Reconciliation.  Your support is having a major impact on others.

Love and blessings in His service,

Curtis May