Rudy Rasmus is an author, humanitarian, and coffee-man with a passion for outreach to the world’s most challenged communities. He co-pastors the St. John’s United Methodist Church in Downtown Houston with his wife Juanita. A church that began with 9 existing members in 1992, St. John’s has grown to thousands where every week people of every social and economic background share the same pew. Rudy founded the Bread of Life, Inc. (a not for profit corporation) with Juanita in December of 1992 and began serving 500 meals per day to the homeless in the sanctuary at St. John’s for twenty-five years. The Bread of Life has literally changed the landscape of Downtown Houston providing an array of services to families in peril and homeless individuals. The project distributes over 30 tons of fresh produce weekly to hungry families who have been financially challenged by the COVID-19 Pandemic. For many years Pastor Rudy has coordinated domestic and global anti-hunger initiatives in conjunction with Beyoncé’s concert tours and travels extensively developing and supporting programs around the world for people experiencing poverty and most recently teamed up with Tina and Beyoncé to help Houstonians in the wake of the pandemic through a generous donation from the BeyGood Foundation and the Start Small Foundation (an initiative of Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter.) Pastor Rudy has authored three prior books, contributed to five others and completed his Doctorate in 2019 with dissertation research focused on “The intersection of Black Millennial Culture with Religion.”
Dottie Escobedo-Frank serves as Bishop of the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. She earned her Master of Divinity from Claremont School of Theology and her Doctor of Ministry from George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Semiotics and Future Studies. Dottie served as an elder in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and as the District Superintendent of the South District. She is a speaker and writer, and her work has centered on church revitalization, worship and preaching, and multicultural ministry. Dottie is the author of Converge: Our Common Sins, Jesus Insurgency with Rudy Rasmus, ReStart Your Church, Sermon Seeds, Advent and Christmas, and the Igniting Worship Series.
