Month: June 2020

Worship

Worship at the site of George Floyd’s death

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date June 15, 2020

I did a thread on Twitter looking into the worship at the site of George Floyd's death.

First tweet of the thread: https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1272620688453455874

Last tweet of the thread: https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1273881757339627521

Here is the whole thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1272620688453455874.html?refreshed=yes

Here is the full updated PDF of the thread:

Download Worship at George Floyd memorial 2

Original PDF:

Download Worship at George Floyd memorial

Below it is harder to read the thread but I pasted it there anyway.

I deleted this comment on Instagram and Twitter because I see that Sean Feucht did not set up the stage.
Organizers:

Unity Revival Minneapolis!Unity Revival Minneapolis! has 1,258 members. We are saddened by the injustices in this world and what has happened to George Floyd. We believe that now,…https://www.facebook.com/groups/625712998026827/

Locals: Curtis Farrar and Alfonzo Williams of Worldwide Outreach Ministries.

Ministries hold daily services at site of George Floyd's death: 'From hatred to healing and hope'Tears shed and lives changed at the street corner where George Floyd was killed at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.https://www.foxnews.com/us/floyd-minneapolis-ministry-memorial

'We got to act': Minnesota ex-felon finds purpose at George Floyd memorialAlfonzo Williams waved his massive forearms and urged onlookers to clear the way for the procession of clergy members marching toward the site in his Minneapolis neighborhood where a white police off…https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-faith/we-got-to-act-minnesota-ex-felon-finds-purpose-at-george-floyd-memorial-idUSKBN23A2V9

A little research into those involved with the worship and preaching at the site of George Floyd's death.

Curtis Farrar pastors a small church on the corner where George Floyd was killed. He witnessed the killing on May 25th.
My May 26 tweet:

Andy Rowell@AndyRowell

Here is an interview with Pastor Curtis Farrar who has led Worldwide Outreach For Christ for 30 years which is on the corner where this happened. He witnessed the incident. https://twitter.com/ChaoStrib/status/1265350731382640641 …

Chao Xiong@ChaoStrib

Here is the full 14-minute interview w/Pastor Curtis Farrar about the deth of #GeorgeFloyd https://photos.app.goo.gl/SEywqghmgPSkrzzdA …

4:27 PM – May 26, 2020

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Alfonzo Williams "is a member of the Worldwide Outreach for Christ, a nearby church where he works security and helps organize events for the small congregation . . . Now he is part host, part traffic cop at the sprawling makeshift memorial for Floyd."

Charles Karuku, who is pastor of International Outreach Church in Burnsville (14 miles away), has been going to the site since May 31st and called it "Unity Rally Minneapolis."

Dr-CharlesAnnouncing the Unity Rally Minneapolis. For details join the Facebook page Unity Rally Minneapolis….https://www.facebook.com/Drcharles.karuku/videos/10158267757589513/

International Outreach ChurchInternational Outreach Church, Burnsville, Minnesota. 1,438 likes · 56 talking about this. IOC is a place where we encounter God and raise up Godly…https://www.facebook.com/experienceioc/

,
charleskaruku.com/about-page

Joshua Lindquist has since June 3rd been working with outreach based at CityView Church in Minneapolis.

Joshua LindquistLOOKING TO DO OUTREACH IN MINNESOTA? Join us for worship + prayer + daily outreach at 8a + 12p + 4p + 8p from CityView Church at 3041 4th Avenue South,…https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10163963870575171

BennyK had been doing DJ work in the street since May 28th. He was looking for a stage on June 5th because YWAM Circuit Riders (outside speakers) were

BennyK Music on Facebook WatchSTAGE NEEDED – George Floyd outreach this Saturday & Sunday. DM/comment any ideas. Details: Worldwide Outreach For Christ (Church parking lot) 3808…https://www.facebook.com/djbennyk/videos/2582767085318699/

Danny Bryan of Circuit Riders (that is affiliated with Youth With a Mission) of Huntington Beach, California says he was given permission to hold rallies by Curtis Farrar.
instagram.com/p/CBOvAQblvkV/…,

Circuit RidersHope on the Front Lines – A team of four of us from Circuit Riders left for Minneapolis, MN on May 31st with less than a 48 hour notice. We knew we had…https://www.facebook.com/circuitridermovement/posts/3360695423975100

June 6-7 outside preachers:
Joel Bomberger (Huntington Beach, California

JoelGuys! Incredible things happening in Minneapolis this weekend!! 😳👇🏻Read this! A team of our Circuit Riders went to Minneapolis to hold open air…https://www.facebook.com/Joelbomberger/videos/10157762679001773/

Christophe Ulysse (Brantford, Ontario, Canada) says they built the stage.

Christophe UlysseWe built a stage and have been sharing the love of God at the death site of Gorge Floyd since Saturday. It’s the epicenter of so much pain and hatred,…https://www.facebook.com/christophe.ulysse/posts/10158346999709941

Jonathan Tremaine Thomas (St. Louis, Missiouri)

Joshua Giles has his ministry office in St. Louis Park about 8 miles from the site of George Floyd's death. He preached at the site on June 12th and did the two baptisms on June 13th in the videos of Sean Feucht.

Joshua Giles MinistriesI’m here now preaching on the streets in Minneapolis!! REVIVAL HAS BROKEN OUT IN THE STREETS where George Floyd was killed!https://www.facebook.com/ProphetJoshuaGiles/photos/a.2033354423366069/3276141015754064/?type=3&theater

Meanwhile, leading local pastors in the Twin Cities have been involved in grieving, marches, clean up, countering looting and arson, talking with political leaders, attending memorial services, organizing food drives, and leading worship services.

Sean Feucht of Bethel Music in Redding, California led worship there on Saturday night, June 13th.
Instagram:
instagram.com/p/CBZc52pJ0uE/, instagram.com/p/CBZkLqvg0I4/, instagram.com/p/CBa5RxhAjlh/
Facebook video:

Carissa KreyTonight was so powerful!! The media isn’t showing you the truth of what’s happening; we’re here right where George Floyd was murdered. What the enemy…https://www.facebook.com/carissa.diacogiannis/posts/10219789599264528

Any group who sets up near the site of George Floyd's death should consider whether they are disturbing other people gathering to mourn or reflect or learn. A microphone and music with big speakers right at the site is very questionable.

One of the lessons from the death of George Floyd is that outsiders need to be sensitive to local neighborhood issues. Outsiders need to listen, not preach. White people generally need to follow the lead of people of color and others with long-earned relevant knowledge.

As someone who ran in a Republican primary in March for Congress in Redding, California, and was photographed touching Donald Trump's sleeve at the White House in December, Sean Feucht brings baggage to being a messenger of reconciliation in Minneapolis.

Unroll available on Thread Reader

Sean Feucht says the Saturday evening time of leading worship was among the most powerful revivals he has ever seen in the United States.
His statement:
instagram.com/p/CBZkLqvg0I4/,
Compare video: instagram.com/p/CBa5RxhAjlh/
and other description:

Worship is both expressive and formative. In this case, worship should help people express their agony and anger. And form people, prepare people, to act for justice.
See:

Esau McCaulley Ph.D@esaumccaulley

This was not easy to write. I tried to speak as honestly as I could in @nytimes about Black Anger and a theology of hope.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/opinion/george-floyd-psalms-bible.html …

Opinion | What the Bible Has to Say About Black Anger

The Psalms are not silent about the rage of the oppressed.

nytimes.com

955

10:10 AM – Jun 14, 2020

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373 people are talking about this

, and worship resources at:

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship@cicw

We lament and grieve the indefensible and tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery even as we continue to lament and grieve the indefensible and tragic deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Sandra Blanc, Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd…. https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/anti-racism-in-the-renewing-of-christian-worship-2020 …

6

10:09 AM – Jun 2, 2020

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See Calvin Institute of Christian Worship's other Tweets

Prayer for people is very appropriate and good but it would be best if people wore masks to prevent infection. There are numerous signs at the site urging people to wear masks for the safety of everyone.

Evangelism involves Christians acting in such a way that they are worthy of trust. This almost always involves sincere listening to people about their wounds and pain and pledging support to help them. This is demonstrating to people what Jesus was like.

The Christian eventually explains why they act the way they do. But preaching or playing Christian songs tends to repel people rather than attracting them if the person has not been seriously listened to.

Baptism is indeed celebratory. It is part of someone's journey from the grip of self-destructive sin to a new start with God. Typically this is done with others who will assist and encourage the person with their journey.

These two images do tell a different story:

Good overview here:

More discussion in this thread of the video of Sean Feucht and Charles Karuku. Recall that Karuku is a pastor in Burnsville, a suburb. He is selling his book on Facebook amid videos of himself. Feucht is a worship leader from Redding, California.

The thread above tries to trace how Sean Feucht was in Minneapolis at the site of George Floyd's death about 19 days later.
(1) The local black pastor gave
(2) YWAM preachers from California the okay to come preach,
(3) a suburban pastor made a page on Facebook,
(4) Sean.

Jake Dockter has also been trying to figure out what Sean Feucht was doing in Minneapolis.

RJ was trying to help Sean Feucht and I interact on Instagram but I deleted my initial reply to him because I learned the "stage" had been set up June 6th (not the 13th). Meanwhile he had screenshotted my reply and tweeted it angrily. 🤷‍♂️
Instagram:

Having listened to Sean Feauct reflect on what he was trying to do, it sounds like he sees himself as a worship catalyst and therefore he should rush like a firefighter to world problems. And he says he has done so. I wonder if there is a theological misunderstanding there.

Jesus was late sometimes so missed his chance to heal people so he had to do it later or from afar. He played down the importance of special worship sites. He usually avoided crowds and the spotlight. Is that applicable?

Is worship music what is needed in a global crisis? Partially. But when hurrying from place to place one can make cultural errors because one does not know the context, making the crisis worse.
Or one can be used by the players involved so as to appear partisan, making it worse.

Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr., and all U.S. Presidents all considered carefully the message their presence would send. And whether it would distract and make things worse.

There is certainly a place for crisis response teams in earthquakes and for news media to hurry to get on the scene. But they have a very limited, modest, practical purpose.

The other thing Sean Feucht seems to believe in is hyping, marketing, selling "revival" worship gatherings so that people know about them. He is trying to publicize these good things. The challenge is to avoid the embellishing and exaggerating, which misleads the trusting person.

I think he sincerely thinks that if he can be somewhere and play worship songs there, the Spirit of God will be unleashed from its local chains to bring healing to people. But I think that puts too much pressure on Sean Feucht and underestimates God.

As a little more information trickles out, I will add it below.
For example, Josh Giles (St. Louis Park, MN) who spoke last night with Sean Feucht on Instagram, (and was preacher on June 12-13 and Sean was there June 13), run in similar circles.

Unity Rally / Revival Minneapolis Facebook page is run by Charles Karuku of Burnsville, MN.

Curtis Farrar of Worldwide Outreach for Christ is the church at the site.

They are both Pentecostal churches and led by people of color.

Wow. I just found out that Sean Feucht took a screen shot of a deleted Instagram reply by me while we were replying back and forth there and posted it on Facebook (as well as Twitter).

Sean FeuchtIt’s wild how many white “woke” Christians are condemning, harassing & trolling me for supporting/bringing awareness to a worship, prayer and…https://www.facebook.com/sean.feucht/photos/a.10151959450812487/10158277422807487/

The three images from Instagram below.

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Law enforcement Minneapolis

Saturday May 30th, 2020 Law enforcement violence on media in Minneapolis

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date June 8, 2020

I started a thread that night and just kept adding to it as Minnesota law enforcement enforced a curfew forcefully including targeting media.

First tweet:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1266929335597965312

Last tweet:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1271098156651077632

Thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1271098156651077632.html

PDF of thread:

Download Saturday May 30 law enforcement violence on media in Minneapolis

This will be more difficult to read below but I will paste it anyway:

So the story tonight in Minneapolis, (perhaps because I follow many journalists) is media getting shot with rubber bullets, gassed, and arrested as they get between protesters and police.
(Many media were terrified of the mayhem without police presence the last two nights).

Law enforcement seem to not understand protocol around ignoring media. Media seem to be confident that they can go wherever they want because of their press credentials. I think there is legitimate confusion going on here on both sides.

Last night (Friday night), media feeling unsettled because of the chaos. And this does not include all of the videos of cars going fast through crowds and fires.

Media getting hit by rubber bullets and gas and pepper spray on previous nights.

And this is the most terrible story, of a photographer being blinded in one eye. Horrible.

Unroll available on Thread Reader

Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who is briefing on behalf of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety says:

Lessons from Minneapolis one week after George Floyd’s death

Post author By Andy Rowell
Post date June 2, 2020

Whole thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1267698646180483072.html

First tweet of thread:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1267692150130540544

Last tweet of thread:

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1267698646180483072

PDF:

Download Lessons from Minneapolis one week after George Floyds death

Pasted below:

Lessons from Minnesota (1 week)
Thread
1. Do not murder people.
2. Do not abet murder.
3. Do not have a history of killings by police.
4. Do not have a history of rendering people unconscious with neck restraints
5. If someone does commit murder, cry out for justice.

6. Do elect thoughtful, collaborative, compassionate public officials. If some leaders speak without compassion, minimize their responsibilities. In crisis, update 3 times a day.
7. Protests and demonstrations may be unpleasant for those who are not used to being inconvenienced.

8. Protests and demonstrations are best when led by people with a history of integrity and compassion. They know how to protest in symbolically powerful, spectacular ways without violence, looting and arson. They understand the web of interconnected issues that need challenging.

9. Local, state, and National Guard will initially have difficulty coordinating their efforts.
10. They may initially need to allow some property damage (strip malls, fast food restaurants, liquor stores, big box stores) in order to prioritize saving lives and crucial locations.

11. It is impossible to stop looting and arson if any of these are true:
(a) there are thousands more trouble-makers than law enforcement,
(b) there is a general sense that police deserve to be humbled rather than be cooperated with,
(c) politicians ignore legitimate demands.

12. If the general public get angry at the looters and arsonists and decide to protect their businesses and homes, politicians act reasonably, good activists direct protesters, and outside law enforcement act compassionately, looting and arson may slow.

13. Law enforcement need to avoid hitting media. Media need to communicate clearly who they are. Media need to try to avoid getting caught in the middle and interfering with law enforcement operations.
14. Rubber bullets are very dangerous to eyes. Wear eye protection.

15. Curfew *may* help to slow looting and arson but only if public despises looters and arson more than government.
16. Even after order resumes, government officials will still need to be responsive to wise protesters and avoid brutality or rage may burst out again.

17. Learn about how to wash out tear gas and pepper spray.
18. Local media (newspaper, radio, TV news, TV news online streaming, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) are very important. In a crisis, the public are desperate for accurate and the most recent information.

19. Government officials need to go to great effort to affirm and coordinate generous, sacrificial efforts to protect property, clean up, and provide supplies to the hurting by the general public. Yes, it is less messy to just have government do it, but public support is crucial.

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