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WORK TITLE: Costly Grace
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1958
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: American
http://www.faithandaction.org/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1958, in Montclair, NJ; married Cheryl Smith (a psychotherapist); children: Anna and Matthew.
EDUCATION:Ordained, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1982; Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, M.A. (Christian ministry, 1998; Faith Evangelical Seminary, Ph.D. (strategic leadership, 2012.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Ordained evangelical minister. Faith and Action, founder; National Clergy Council, president; Evangelical Church Alliance, past chairman; Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute, Washington, DC, founding president. On the board of P&R Schenck, Associates in Evangelism, Inc., National Clergy Council, Advisory Commission on Minority Engagement for the National Center for State Courts, and Board of Presbyters of the (Old Line Evangelical) Methodist Episcopal Church USA.
AWARDS:Oxford University and Royal Society of Arts, senior fellow of the Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy.
RELIGION: Born Jewish, converted to evangelical Christian.WRITINGS
Contributor of essays to periodicals, including New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, TIME, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Houston Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Orlando Sentinel, Daily Beast, Huffington Post, and VICE News.
SIDELIGHTS
Reverend Rob Schenck, who converted from Judaism as a teenager, was a minister in the ultra-conservative wing of American evangelicalism and was founder of the Christian outreach organization, Faith and Action. As president of the National Clergy Council, he has consulted with top-level government officials in Washington, DC, and has launched Sword of the Spirit: A Christian Conversation on Gun Violence to reduce gun violence. A decades-long career in the leadership of the Religious Right, he has been an aggressive anti-abortion activist. He was also the subject of Abigail Disney’s Emmy Award-winning documentary, The Armor of Light.
In his 2018 memoir, Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love, Schenck explains how he turned away from preaching evangelical messages of rejection, exclusion, and contempt, to embracing a gospel of invitation, inclusion, and love. In Schenck’s past he has kept close company with the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Roy Moore, and Mike Pence, and has confronted abortion, homosexuality, and liberal causes with self-righteous, hate-fueled anger. Today, Schenck claims to be a “recovering member of the religious right” and believes that a new generation of socially conscious evangelicals can help repair the damage caused by the fiercely politicized and destructive brand of evangelicalism that has stained the American religious and political landscape for the past few decades.
The turning point in Schenck’s life came when he encountered the work of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer which inspired him to reconsider his faith and turn to the simplicity of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, a move that has garnered calls of “traitor” and “turncoat” by his contemporaries. In an interview with Michel Martin online at NPR, Schenck explained why he thinks he has taken a different path from the militant evangelicals he was previously associated with: “I still believe in providence. I think I’ve met the right people at the right time in the right places to help me find my way out of what I call the dark wood period of my life when I was disoriented spiritually, ethically certainly—if not morally.”
A Kirkus Reviews critic noted that Schenck provides a provocative autobiography focused on the evolution of his life as a person of faith, yet admitted that the author’s sudden change from dedicated fundamentalist to moderate may be difficult to accept. The critic added: “but some readers may be most startled by what Schenck put his wife and children through during three decades of unabated activism.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer complemented Schenck’s superb self-critical writing that will draw readers in, and added: “Addressing libertarian evangelical ideologies, this powerful book is a universal call for a change of heart in both the political and sacred realms.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2018, review of Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love.
Publishers Weekly, April 9, 2018, review of Costly Grace, p. 72.
ONLINE
All Things Considered, NPR, https://www.npr.org/ (May 27, 2018), Michel Martin, author interview.
"People can change, no matter what they've been or done, or how young or old they may be." That's what Rob Schenck says in explaining his own life's journey.
Schenck is, in his own words, a "recovering member of the religious right." An ordained evangelical minister with impeccable conservative bona fides, including keeping close company with the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Roy Moore, and Mike Pence, Schenck went as far as personally challenging then President Bill Clinton during a Christmas Eve service at the Washington National Cathedral, landing the popular preacher in Secret Service custody.
As an early leader in the militant anti-abortion movement, Operation Rescue, Schenck, along with identical twin brother, Paul, was jailed numerous times. He was later arrested defending Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and his display of a public monument of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Judicial Building. In a bid to justify the Schenck brothers' pro-life activism in front of abortion clinics, now-Trump lawyer, Jay Sekulow, argued for them before the U.S. Supreme Court, successfully getting limits lifted on their protest activities. Schenck eventually took his place on Capitol Hill as a spokesperson for the ultra-conservative wing of American evangelicalism, and for twenty years could be seen regularly addressing the media in front of the Supreme Court, reading the Bible on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, and kneeling in prayer at the front gates of the White House.
After several physicians had been shot and killed by anti-abortion activists, Schenck began to wonder about the tactics he and his cohorts employed. Then, when a supporter of his ministry was personally touched by the shooting of five Amish girls in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse, and a mass shooting happened near his own home in Washington, DC, Schenck agreed to investigate his community's embrace of gun culture. The result was Abigail Disney 's Emmy Award winning documentary, The Armor of Light.
Schenck's critique of evangelicals and guns was only the beginning of a sometimes painful reassessment of what he had spent more than three decades publicly advancing. After going on a spiritual pilgrimage in the footsteps of World War II-era German Lutheran pastor, ethicist, and Nazi resister, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Schenck experienced "another conversion." Turning away from a message of rejection, exclusion, and contempt, Schenck came to embrace a gospel of invitation, inclusion, and love.
Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister's Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love, is Schenck's memoir of a 44-year odyssey taking him from his initial conversion from nominal Judaism to born again Christianity, to a second conversion from a simple faith to a highly politicized religion, and, ultimately, to a gospel marked by God's expansive and permanent grace offered equally to all.
Rob Schenck was born to a Jewish father and a mother who converted to Judaism. He became a Christian in his late teens, married Cheryl Smith a year after the two graduated high school in 1976, went on to study for the ministry, and was ordained at 21. Over a four-decade career, Schenck has served as a residential counselor for recovering heroin addicts, a pastor to urban and suburban congregations, a leader in the religious right, and, now, as a friendly critic of American evangelicalism.
Rob Schenck is a minister, non-profit executive, author and speaker. He holds degrees in Bible and Theology, Religion, Christian Ministry, and Church and State. Schenck is the founding president of The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute in Washington, DC (www.tdbi.org) an institution dedicated to applying the theological and ethical insights of this brilliant World War II-era Protestant church leader, Nazi resister, and moral philosopher to the social crises of our time. He and his wife, Cheryl, a psychotherapist in private practice, have two adult children and live in Washington, DC. Rob Schenck blogs at revrobschenck.com and podcasts at Schenck Talks Bonhoeffer ( https://soundcloud.com/bonhoeffer-institute ).
Rev. Rob Schenck is an evangelical minister to top-level government officials in Washington, DC, the founder of the Christian outreach organization Faith and Action, the president of the National Clergy Council, and past Chairman of the Evangelical Church Alliance (ECA). His candid and personal views on Capitol Hill activities have put him at the center of many Washington news conferences.
Since the release of THE ARMOR OF LIGHT, Rev. Schenck has continued to meet with many prominent pastors and Christian leaders throughout the nation. As a result, he has launched Sword of the Spirit: A Christian Conversation on Gun Violence to broaden the national conversation on guns and gun violence in America, especially among evangelical Christians. Using the form on this page, please sign up for Sword of the Spirit weekly devotionals on the root causes and theological solutions to gun violence.
Rob Schenck
President, The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute
Biography
Rob Schenck is an American evangelical minister and president of The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute in Washington, DC. As the subject of Abigail Disney’s Emmy Award Winning documentary, The Armor of Light, Rob broke with his community by challenging the American evangelical embrace of popular gun culture and its resistance to common sense gun regulation, fostering a mutually respectful conversation between the two sides on how to reduce gun violence. Similarly, after years as an aggressive anti-abortion activist, he has called for an end to combative engagement on the abortion issue and for a new understanding of each side's perspectives and experiences, with a view toward reducing unwanted pregnancy. In his upcoming memoir with HarperCollins, Costly Grace, Rob crosses another line by detailing his deep, personal shift of position on human sexuality and same-sex marriage. Rob’s previous decades-long leadership on the Religious Right has given him a unique voice in bringing new, solidly evangelical perspectives to entrenched social positions and has allowed him to build bridges across vast religious and political divides. He believes a new generation of socially conscious American evangelicals can help repair the considerable damage done by a highly politicized and destructive brand of evangelicalism that has dominated the American religious and political landscape for almost half a century. Rob holds degrees in Bible and Theology, Religion, Christian Ministry, and the doctor of ministry in church and state, all from evangelical institutions. He is a fellow of the Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy at Oxford and the Royal Society of Arts. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Cheryl, a psychotherapist in private practice.
Rob Schenck has been in public ministry since the late 1970s. He founded and has directed several influential religious organizations and has written essays for the New York Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, TIME, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Post, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Orlando Sentinel, the Daily Beast, the Huffington Post, and VICE News. He is the subject of Abigail Disney’s Emmy Award–winning documentary, The Armor of Light. Schenck, an ordained minister, serves on numerous nonprofit boards, including P&R Schenck, Associates in Evangelism, Inc., the National Clergy Council, the Advisory Commission on Minority Engagement for the National Center for State Courts, and the Board of Presbyters of the (Old Line Evangelical) Methodist Episcopal Church USA. In 2015, he was named a senior fellow of the Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy at Oxford, and became the founding president of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute, Washington, D.C. Reverend Schenck continues to guest preach across the U.S. and around the world.
No bio
< 'My Third Conversion': Rev. Rob Schenck On Why He Took On Gun Control May 27, 20185:18 PM ET Listen· 7:59 7:59 Queue Download Embed Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Reverend Rob Schenck was once a high-profile figure in the militant battle against abortion, a master of provocative tactics such as displaying fetal remains and blocking clinics. Now, though, he's parted ways with many fellow evangelical ministers and taken his pro-life message to the fight to reduce gun violence. Reverend Schenck's life has been a winding spiritual journey. He was born into a Jewish family, but he and his twin brother, Paul, accepted Christianity as teenagers. This is where Reverend Schenck begins his new memoir, "Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister's Rediscovery Of Faith, Hope And Love." When he came into the studio last week, I asked what he and his brother were looking for when they converted. ROB SCHENCK: You know, I think - as all people do - I was looking for meaning, something beyond the kind of two-dimensional existence that we all share. I was looking for some contact with the transcendent, with something beyond ourselves. But I was just as much looking for a surrogate family because at the time, my family was dysfunctional. And there was a lot of conflict and tension in my family. And it kind of left me feeling like I didn't have a communal anchor. MARTIN: You were on the front lines of the battle against abortion rights. You participated in Operation Rescue, blocking women's access to clinics. In your book, you graphically describe how you used fetuses as protest props. You and your brother, at one point, were both arrested. You both wound up in jail for that. But you also talk in the book about how you never really thought about the women and their circumstances, the fear on their faces or what brought them to that place. I'm curious about that, particular as a person who was led to faith by empathy, right? SCHENCK: You know, I set up the book in three conversions. There was my first conversion to Christ, the Jesus I met through the Sermon on the Mount - this very compassionate, empathetic soul. And then I had a second conversion, and that was to what I call Reagan-Republican religion. And during that phase, I really lost that dimension of Jesus that empathized with others, that felt the anguish of others. And I had to be brought back to it. And that's the story of my third conversion. MARTIN: I think some people who know of you may think that the reason that you got interested in gun control was because of two doctors who performed abortions were both murdered as a result of their work. But that's not really true. SCHENCK: No. I was distressed by both of those events but mostly because they damaged the reputation of the movement. MARTIN: So how did you get interested in the question of guns and what your role as evangelical clergy and as an evangelical leader should be in addressing the issue of gun violence in this country? SCHENCK: Well, since you mentioned empathy, there was a moment in 2006 when I was called by a benefactor to the organization I was heading at that time, who employed a woman whose son had murdered five Amish school girls in their school house. And I was called to that emergency. And I was deeply, deeply affected by that. But I would compartmentalize that again for a number of years into the future. And it wouldn't be until much later when a mass shooting occurred in my own neighborhood, here in Washington, D.C., within sight of my living room window. Twelve people died at the Naval Yard, and I felt that. And finally, I met Lucy McBath, whose son, Jordan Davis, had been murdered in front of a convenience store in Florida. And I saw her heart, her eyes, the pain in her mother's soul. And those things, as well as others, would pull me across the finish line on calling into question my own evangelicals community's passion for second amendment, unfettered gun rights. I thought that was really the sign of a deep spiritual failing in our community. MARTIN: So this kind of gets to the question I think a lot of people have. Why is it that white, evangelical Christians are so connected to this question of gun ownership and gun rights? Statistically, they are far more likely to be gun owners. Why is that? SCHENCK: Well, I did want to ask that question, and I became more and more curious about it. And I was shocked at what I found. I was talking with colleagues. I'm a minister, and I had many pastor friends who were now arming in the pulpit. One of my longtime friends told me, Rob, if somebody ever stands up in my congregation and makes a sound, he'll be sorry he ever did because I'll take him out right from the pulpit. When I heard that, I said, we have a deep crisis in our community. And I went looking - what is this that has brought us to a place of embracing popular gun culture? And what I learned was, first of all, there is a deep and abiding fear within my community, a fear of persecution by the federal government - and that many of my colleagues and friends and the folks in the churches that I visited would tell me if we don't have guns, we won't be able to defend ourselves against the government when they come after us. There is a kind of fierce independence among evangelicals. And so I think it is part of the sort of wild west, you know, independent American culture woven into our Christian culture. And there may even be something more sinister. I was in one encounter with a group of clergy in Kentucky. And I asked, how many of you are armed? And every one of the 20 or so around the table were armed. And I asked them, you know, as soon as you draw the weapon, you're ready to kill. When do you make that decision? And there was a lot of hemming and hawing and uncomfortable body language. And finally, a gentleman - maybe in his mid-60s - quietly ventured an answer. And he said, well, I'll have to tell you the truth about that. That would have to do with a man's skin color. MARTIN: One of the reasons that you're such an interesting figure is that you are actually connected to or have worked with some of the most prominent evangelical figures in the news today - Roy Moore, for example, an associate of yours, Jay Sekulow, one of the president's lawyers. You know all these folks. So the question is why do you think that you've taken such a different path? SCHENCK: You know, sometimes the paths we take in life are inscrutable. You know, I don't know all the unseen factors here. I still believe in providence. I think I've met the right people at the right time in the right places to help me find my way out of what I call the dark wood period of my life when I was disoriented spiritually, ethically certainly - if not morally. And given the same set of encounters that I've had along the path in my life, especially in the last 10 years or so, I think some of those people - perhaps those you even named - would take the same course that I've taken. But they haven't had those same encounters, so they have reacted to those same encounters in the way that I have. MARTIN: That's the Reverend Rob Schenck. His new book is called "Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister's Rediscovery Of Faith, Hope And Love." The book is out next month. Reverend Schenck, thanks so much for speaking with us. SCHENCK: Thank you.
Rob Schenck
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Rob Schenck
Born
Robert Leonard Schenck
1958
Montclair, New Jersey
Education
Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary (1998)
Doctor of Ministry in Strategic Leadership, Faith Evangelical Seminary (2012)
Spouse(s)
Cheryl (née Smith) Schenck
Children
Anna and Matthew Schenck
Parent(s)
Henry and Marjorie Schenck
Church
Methodist Episcopal Church, USA
Ordained
1982, New York District. Presbytery of the General Council of the Assemblies of God
Writings
"Ten Words That Will Change America" (Albury Press)
Offices held
Founding President, The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute
Title
Reverend Doctor
Website
http://www.faithandaction.org
Notes
Schenck also serves as President of the National Clergy Council, and as an elected chaplain to the Capital Forum Club, the only private association to meet regularly inside the U.S. Capitol. In this capacity, he offers the invocation with remarks at the annual U.S. Capitol Police Officer of the Year award ceremony and provides pastoral and other ministerial services to the congressional and Capitol Hill communities. His views on current events and public policy are often viewed and quoted in the media.
Robert Lenard Schenck (pronounced SHANK; born 1958) is an American Evangelical clergyman who ministers to elected and appointed officials in Washington, DC. Serving as President of The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute in Washington, D.C. He is an ordained minister of the old line and evangelical Methodist Episcopal Church USA. Since 1982, Schenck has preached in all 50 states, several Canadian provinces, and over 40 countries. He has created organizations still serving those in need and providing ongoing spiritual and humanitarian support in such places as Mexico, Egypt, and Cambodia. He is the subject of the Emmy Award-winning 2016 Abigail Disney documentary, “The Armor of Light”. Media outlets and policy makers seek his opinions on current issues, and he regularly appears as a guest on news and opinion shows.
Contents [hide]
1
Early years
1.1
Conversion to Christianity
1.2
Family
2
Education and certification
3
Early ministry
3.1
Operation Serve International
3.2
Faithwalk
3.3
Hearts for the Homeless
3.4
Buffalo Pro-Life Activism 1992
4
D.C. ministry
4.1
National Community Church
4.1.1
Ten Commandments Project
4.1.2
National Memorial for the Preborn
4.2
National Clergy Council
4.2.1
Judge Moore's Monument
4.2.2
Church Affiliations
4.3
Preaching at the National Cathedral
5
National ministry
5.1
Stopping Burn-a-Koran Day
5.2
Houston Sermons Subpoena
5.3
National Center of State Courts
5.4
The Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy at Oxford
5.5
The Armor of Light documentary
6
Memberships
7
References
8
External links
Early years[edit]
Robert Lenard Schenck and his identical twin brother, Paul, were born in 1958 in Montclair, New Jersey, to Chaim "Henry Paul" Schenck and Marjorie (née Apgar) Schenck. Schenck was named after his father’s older brother who was a decorated B-17 bomber pilot in World War II and who lost his life in an air crash while serving in the Korean War. Schenck's father was born Jewish, raised in Manhattan and attended a reformed Temple on Long Island, and Schenck's mother was born Catholic in Brooklyn, raised non-religious (she converted to Judaism when marrying his father), and grew up in Northern New Jersey.[1]
Schenck grew up in Grand Island, New York. One of his interests was Spanish, which he now uses in ministry. He and his friends started GASP: Grand Island Association Against Pollution, which served as an early community recycling center.[1]
Conversion to Christianity[edit]
As a self-described "rebellious teen"[2] Schenck and brother Paul became involved in risky behavior. Then in 1974 at the age of 16, the boys became acquainted with the son of a United Methodist minister serving the Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Island. After Paul was introduced to a circle of young, religious Christians, he decided to become a Christian. Schenck accompanied his brother to prayer meetings, and soon converted as well. Both brothers were baptized in the waters of the Niagara River, which forms the borders of Grand Island. The conversion displeased Henry, who felt that Schenck was rejecting his Jewish roots, but Marjorie, who had converted from Catholicism when she married Henry, was more understanding. Henry later came to accept Schenck's conversion and traveled with him on a religious mission to Russia.
Family[edit]
While attending a youth prayer group at the Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Grand Island, Schenck met Cheryl Smith. Schenck married Cheryl in 1977 after graduating from Grand Island High School. While Schenck attended classes at Elim Bible Institute and worked as a residential counselor at a church sponsored home for at-risk youth, Cheryl gave birth to two children, Anna in 1979 and Matthew in 1981.
Education and certification[edit]
After graduating from Grand Island High School, Schenck began to study scripture and theology in earnest. He attended Elim Bible Institute's Buffalo campus in Buffalo, New York called Buffalo School of the Bible. After pursuing Biblical Studies for 4 years, (1976–1980) Schenck graduated with a Certificate in Bible and Theology. During this time, Schenck also completed the Ministerial Studies Program of Berean College, a distance education school based in Springfield, Missouri, and was granted his license to preach in 1978 by the New York District of the Assemblies of God.
Schenck was ordained in 1982 by the New York District Presbytery of the Assemblies of God. He transferred his ministerial affiliation to the Evangelical Church Alliance International in 1990, while at the same time pursuing further theological studies through Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary in Tacoma, Washington. He received both the Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Master of Arts in Christian Ministry in 1998. In the year 2010, Schenck was honored by his alma mater (now called Faith Evangelical College and Seminary) when he was conferred its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
On October 12, 2012, Schenck received the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Strategic Leadership from Faith Evangelical Seminary. His dissertation was entitled "Bulwark Against Political Idolatry: The Necessity of Theology of Church and State for American Evangelical Pastors."
Schenck has also been awarded an honorary degree, a Doctor of Divinity, by St. Paul Christian University in St. Paul, Indiana. This was done in conjunction with the Mid-America Regional Conference of the old-line Methodist Episcopal Church USA.
Early ministry[edit]
After serving in various capacities with the Rochester,New York Teen Challenge center, a church sponsored home for at-risk youth, Schenck was selected as the director of a Rochester, New York program and then executive director of the statewide network of homes known as Empire State Teen Challenge that included facilities in Syracuse and Buffalo, New York. In 1980, Schenck left Teen Challenge and served a short stint as Youth Pastor for the Webster Assembly of God congregation in a suburb of Rochester, followed by another short post as a staff pastor for the Community Gospel Church in Long Island City, Queens, New York (now Evangel Church and Christian School). In the latter role, he was mainly tasked with developing a training program for college interns in urban cross-cultural ministry. The program eventually became the New York School of Urban Ministry or NYSUM.
In 1982, Schenck reunited with brother Paul in ministry and became minister of missions and evangelism at the New Covenant Tabernacle in Tonawanda, New York (suburban Buffalo) where Paul was the senior pastor. They worked together in ministry from 1982 to 1994. During that time Schenck formed New Covenant Evangelical Ministries that was later renamed P & R Schenck Associates in Evangelism, the parent organization of Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital.
Operation Serve International[edit]
In 1983, while at New Covenant Tabernacle, Schenck branched out into organizing medical mission efforts by creating “Operation Serve” which grew into an international effort. Operation Serve International is a Christian humanitarian outreach organization deploying volunteer medical, dental and other health and hygiene workers to serve some of the poorest population groups in the world. Schenck turned the operation over to Dr. Sameh and Connie Sadik in 1993 when he went to Washington, DC to minister. Operation Serve International still serves poor populations with medical, dental, health and hygiene services while also preaching Christianity.
Faithwalk[edit]
1988 led Schenck into a new avenue of activism: long distance walking. Through personal contact during a speaking tour of Mexico, he became aware of the plight of the Mexican “dump people”, individuals and families who live, eat, and make their living scrounging recyclables in the municipal garbage dumps of Mexico City. To raise awareness of their plight, Schenck decided to take a 2,000-mile (3,200 km) “Faithwalk” from the border of Canada near his hometown, through the United States and across the border with Mexico. His purpose was to raise funds and to recruit volunteers willing to help by providing medical, dental, health, hygiene and construction services. His four-month journey through five states led to much word-of-mouth marketing and dozens of newspaper articles and television news stories in the many cities and towns along the way.[3]
Hearts for the Homeless[edit]
Then, in 1989, in response to a growing crisis in his own community, Schenck and others began Hearts for the Homeless. “Hearts” began as a mobile kitchen providing food to homeless population of Buffalo, New York. The recreational vehicle Schenck used to house his family during his 2,000-mile (3,200 km) trek to Mexico was outfitted as a mobile shelter for the homeless population, providing temporary relief from the harsh winters of Buffalo, New York, as well as an immediate distribution point for clothing, food and medical treatment. The growing organization continued to meet the needs of disenfranchised people. Later, Schenck recruited Ron Callandra, a homeless person who became a reverend, to direct the organization that continues to feed thousands of the hungry, indigent and homeless in the Buffalo area.
Buffalo Pro-Life Activism 1992[edit]
In 1992, during Buffalo’s large-scale abortion clinic demonstrations, Schenck grabbed national and worldwide attention when photos and video were shot of him cradling a preserved human fetus given the name “Tia” by a black pro-life group because the child was believed to be African-American. Much was written and aired about the event.[citation needed] In an opinion editorial in the June 15 Buffalo News, Schenck responded to the criticism. According to the op-ed, Schenck believed that pro-choice supporters ignored the truth in favor of ideology, and conversely he believed that the fetus demonstrated the truth of his own views. “Most have never seen an abortion, let alone the result of it. Baby Tia takes the argument out of the abstract and into reality.” [4]
In 1992, a $25,000 judgment was levied against Schenck for contempt of court when 6 pro-life leaders were arrested following prayer vigils and demonstrations surrounding the Democratic National Convention held at Madison Square Garden. A federal judge had placed an injunction against showing a human fetus during those demonstrations. Pro-life leaders were arrested and fined when one of those activists offered presidential candidate Bill Clinton a preserved fetus in a plastic box. Schenck, who had rented the hotel room where he and two other demonstrators had stayed, was later found to have had foreknowledge of the plan and the injunction. As a result, US District Judge Robert Ward found him guilty of contempt and levied the judgment, but held it in abeyance, providing Schenck did not appear in his court again on these or similar charges. In a statement to the court, Schenck assured the judge it was a “once in a lifetime act.” When a pro-life New York attorney general was elected in 1994 (Dennis Vacco), his office indicated to Schenck the judgment would not be collected, and it eventually expired.
D.C. ministry[edit]
Schenck came to Washington in order to increase the role of evangelical Christianity in government. He is on-call as a member of the U.S. Senate Chaplain’s Pastoral Response Team. In 2010, Schenck was named the first ever Chaplain in the 40-year history of the Capitol Hill Executive Service Club, the only association of its kind allowed to meet weekly in the prestigious Mansfield Room of the United States Capitol.[5] In these last two capacities, he also routinely carries out the normal roles of a member of the Christian clergy including sacerdotal and ministerial functions such as administering baptism and Holy Communion, solemnizing weddings, conducting funerals, providing pastoral care, counseling and visitation and presiding at various public and private religious ceremonies.
Schenck is a speaker and itinerant preacher. In his 35 years in ministry, Schenck has spoken in more than 1000 churches of all denominations in all fifty states, several Canadian provinces and in 44 other countries.
National Community Church[edit]
In August 1994, in response to a desire to minister to national decision makers, Schenck and family moved to Washington, D.C. His first ministry there was to organize a new church. He attracted a core group of worshippers and created what became the National Community Church. He served as pastor to the church for over a year when Schenck decided to focus on government officials. In the beginning of 1996, Schenck passed the mantle to Mark Batterson.
Ten Commandments Project[edit]
Created in 1995, Faith and Action’s Ten Commandments Project has given over 400 plaques of the Ten Commandments to members of Congress and other highly placed officials, including former presidents Clinton and Bush. Special delegations made up of clergy and lay people make the presentations during ceremonies held in the recipients’ offices. The agenda includes a short speech which describes religion as the foundational basis of morality and law, a reading of the Commandments in their entirety, and prayers. The official is then given an inscribed wooden plaque on which is mounted two stone polymer tablets containing a summary of the Ten Commandments. Recipients are urged to “display and obey” the Ten Commandments.[6] Schenck chose to promote the Ten Commandments because he believes that they have a universal and enduring nature and that they are fundamental to morality.
National Memorial for the Preborn[edit]
In 1995, Schenck organized the first National Memorial for the Preborn and their Mothers and Fathers, a religious service in opposition to abortion.[7] This quickly became a prominent pro-life event held inside the US Capitol complex in Washington, D.C. Originally a program of the National Clergy Council, the event has now been renamed the National Pro-Life Clergy Conference and is sponsored by the National Pro-Life Religious Council. The NPRC is led by prominent pro-life leader Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life and a trustee of Schenck’s Faith and Action. Rev. Schenck and his staff continue to have major roles and responsibilities associated with the event.[8]
National Clergy Council[edit]
Schenck is also the co-founder and president of the National Clergy Council, a network of pastors and denominational leaders. The NCC represents church leaders from Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. It was formed in 1989 and has maintained an office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., since 1994. Its mission is to "bring classical Christian moral instruction into the conversation and debate surrounding public policy." Schenck serves the National Clergy Council’s presidency on a pro-bono or volunteer basis.
Judge Moore's Monument[edit]
In 2003, Schenck helped organize and lead supportive demonstrations outside of the Alabama Judicial building, seat of the state’s Supreme Court where, at the time, the Honorable Roy Moore was chief justice.[9]
By that time, Schenck and Moore had enjoyed a long cooperative association with Moore[10] who had refused to relocate a granite monument to the historic basis of the law that included the Ten Commandments. The monument was eventually ordered moved by US District Judge Myron Thompson. When US marshals were dispatched to supervise the removal, Schenck and several others had surrounded the monument, knelt and begun to pray. He was arrested and held for 5½ hours while the monument was moved.[11] Because of his stature in the religious community, Schenck was interviewed on numerous television shows regarding the events.[12]
Church Affiliations[edit]
Since 2001, Schenck has maintained ministerial credentials as an ordained member of the Methodist Episcopal Church USA, a continuously be of Maryland-based Methodists that traces its roots back to the famous 1784 Baltimore Christmas Conference .An ordained minister is given authority by the Church to administer their rites and duties, including Baptism, Committal, Communion, Solemnization of Marriage, Preaching and Pastoral Counsel. Rev. Schenck carries out all these religious activities as he ministers to the population of Capitol Hill and in other areas.
From 2012 to 2016, Schenck served as the elected chairman of the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Church Alliance{link}(ECA) Previous to that position he was chairman of its Committee for Church and Society, the social witness arm of the alliance of ministers. He is currently an advisor to the Office of the Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) [6]
Preaching at the National Cathedral[edit]
On Sunday, November 29, at the invitation of The Washington National Cathedral,[13] Rev. Rob Schenck became the guest preacher for their Sunday worship service.[14] In this honored moment, Rev. Schenck shared his thoughts on gun violence; specifically addressing the response of Christians to America’s gun culture through the lens of Biblical theology. In part, Rev. Schenck was invited to the Cathedral on the heels of the Washington, D.C. screening of the then just-released full-length documentary, “The Armor of Light,”[15] in which he played a prominent role. Rev. Schenck joins a short list of prominent evangelicals who have preached from the Nation’s pulpit at the Washington National Cathedral. Among them are...
3/31/68 Martin Luther King
6/21/76 Billy Graham
12/13/81 Billy Graham
1/20/85 Billy Graham
12/14/97 Franklin Graham
12/21/97 Robert Anthony Schuller
1/21/01 Franklin Graham
4/25/10 Brian McLaren
6/3/12 Anthony Campolo
National ministry[edit]
Stopping Burn-a-Koran Day[edit]
During September 2010, Schenck opposed the proposed burning of the Koran by pastor Terry Jones.
In an interview with CBN on September 8, Schenck said that this particular demonstration, while possibly warranted by common values and certainly permissible under the Constitution, violated Christian morality, adding that he believed Christians were held to a higher standard.[16] “[I]t’s impossible for me to cite one instance in the life or teaching of Jesus Christ that could justify such an act,” Schenck said.[17] He also stated objections to fallout in religious relations, "He's not just burning Korans, he's also burning bridges that we were trying to build for years with the Islamic community.[18]"
Schenck represented the National Clergy Council in speaking personally with Jones, and asked Jones if, in a show of good faith, he would surrender custody of the Korans at the center of the controversy to Schenck’s colleague, the Reverend Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition. Jones agreed to do so. As a condition of his cancellation, Jones wanted the relocation of Park51. Schenck attempted to broker a meeting between Jones and Imam Faisal Rauf.[19] However, the potential meeting never materialized. In the end, Jones ended up not burning Korans on the date of September 11.[20]
Houston Sermons Subpoena[edit]
On May 28, 2014, Houston, Texas, Mayor Annise Parker approved the controversial Houston Equal Rights Ordinance or HERO, which included a broad range of extenuating rights for the LGBT community without an exemption for religious organizations.[21] Opponents of the ordinance quickly raised signatures to put the Bill to a public vote. On July 3, 2014, over 50,000 signatures were delivered to the city. Ultimately, the city invalidated around 35,000 of the signatures and canceled the vote. On August 7, 2014, Houston citizens’ groups filed suit to block implementation of HERO and it was put on hold.
In late Summer of 2014, Mayor Parker’s legal team subpoenaed sermons and sermon notes of local clergy members who had opposed the HERO ordinance. The subpoena required the clergy that "all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession” be turned over to the Mayor’s lawyers for review.[22] This caused a backlash around the country from religious freedom advocates as well as concerned citizens. As President of the National Clergy Council, Rob Schenck flew to Houston and met with Mayor Parker to personally request that her legal order be withdrawn.[23]
Mayor Parker stated that the conversations with Rev. Schenck and others were helpful. She said, “They took the Houston approach of civil discourse in presenting their case. We gained an understanding of each other’s positions.”[23] Shortly thereafter, the Mayor instructed her attorneys to withdraw the Subpoenas. Afterwards Rev. Schenck commented positively on the tone of the meeting and its results. “Mayor Parker made the right decision and deserves to be commended for it,” said Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council and one of the organizers of the delegation. “Our meeting with the mayor was cordial and very productive. While showing her all due respect, we never relaxed or compromised our demand for her to unequivocally withdraw the subpoenas. We’re thankful to her and we are supremely thankful to God for this positive outcome.”[24]
In July 2015, the Texas Supreme Court ordered that HERO be either repealed or placed on the ballot. The City Council placed the measure for open vote and it was defeated by a large margin.[25]
National Center of State Courts[edit]
In October 2015, Rev. Schenck was appointed to serve on the National Advisory Board on Community Engagement in the State Courts. This board, sponsored by the National Center for State Courts and Chaired by the Chief Justice of the D.C. Court of appeals, seeks to create dialogue between minority and economically disadvantaged communities and court leadership so that there is an increase in public trust and confidence in the court system.[26]
The Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy at Oxford[edit]
On March 28, 2015, Rev. Schenck was named Senior Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy at Oxford. Based in Oxford, England, the group “brings leading thinkers, academics, and practitioners from across the globe to participate in scholarly pursuit aimed at protecting Christians and others facing persecution in the Middle East and other parts of the globe.”[27] At the Centre’s initial symposium, held March 26–28, 2015, at Harris Manchester College of the University of Oxford, Schenck gave his inaugural lecture entitled “Evangelical Protestants in Turkey: A Study in Discrimination, Marginalization and Insecurity.” The think-tank has had presentations from such well known people as Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former Mexican President Felipe Calderón, publisher and former US Presidential candidate Steve Forbes, and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and current U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton.[27]
The Armor of Light documentary[edit]
In 2015, Rob Schenck was the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary, “The Armor of Light.”[28][29] In this film, award-winning Director Abigail Disney[30] chronicles the spiritual exploration of Rev. Rob Schenck around the topic of guns and the pro-life Christian community response to America’s gun culture and subsequent gun violence. Schenck interacts with Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis a black teenager who was shot and killed by a white motorist in a 2012 argument over loud music. Together Schenck and Davis explore the notion that pro-life and pro-gun may be a tougher theological stance than many people are willing to recognize. The movie was called a “vital colloquy on whether we shape our lives through fear or with love” by the LA Times.[31]
Disney’s Film about Schenck has been praised for its cinematography and for its sensitive and fair treatment of the subject. The New York Times says “the film presents some fresh-sounding arguments about Christianity and guns as intriguing jumping-off points rather than open-and-shut cases.” [32] Schenck himself has received praise for his fearless assessment of his long founded viewpoint.[33] and his clearheaded thinking on the subject.[31] In an interview with Christianity Today, Schenck described his new found conclusion on the proliferation of guns in American Christian culture. He observed “that kind of thought (gun proliferation even in churches) introduces a huge problem for the testimony of the Gospel--, but that’s all driven by fear. And fear is driven by other elements. Fear of the other is the fuel. But as Jesus tells us many times, the Gospel is the antidote to fear.”[34]
Memberships[edit]
President, The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute
President, National Clergy Council, Washington, DC
Member of the US Senate Chaplain's Pastoral Care Response Team
Chairman, Committee on Church and Society for the Evangelical Church Alliance
Trustee, Gospel of Life Ministries
Member, Board of Directors, Institute on Religion and Public Society
Member, American Academy of Religion
Member, The Center for Bio-ethics and Human Dignity
Member, The National Association of Evangelicals
Member, International Bonhoeffer Society
Senior Fellow, Oxford Centre for the Study of Law and Public Policy
Member, National Advisory Board on the Community Engagement in the State Courts
Schenck, Rob: COSTLY GRACE
Kirkus Reviews. (Apr. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Schenck, Rob COSTLY GRACE Harper/HarperCollins (Adult Nonfiction) $26.99 6, 5 ISBN: 978-0-06-268793-7
Christian activist and minister Schenck provides a provocative autobiography centered on the evolution of his life as a person of faith.
Born into a nominally Jewish family, the author and his identical twin brother, Paul, shocked their parents by converting to Christianity as teenagers and, soon thereafter, jumping headlong into evangelical ministry. While still rather young, the brothers moved wholeheartedly into the nascent anti-abortion movement of the late 1980s. From the rise of Operation Rescue, Schenck describes in page-turning detail his life at the heart of the abortion controversy. The author seems to have been at almost every important event and turning point as evangelical Christianity reached its zenith of political influence in the George W. Bush years--and as it began a slide into confusion, infighting, and muddled morality over the past decade. Having set himself up in Washington, D.C., targeting politicians and others of influence, Schenck became a well-known face of the religious right, often conferring with members of Congress and being interviewed by the press. But years of fame, travel, legal troubles, and near zealotry took their toll on the author and his family. Early in the Barack Obama era, an encounter with the works of German writer Dietrich Bonhoeffer caused Schenck to re-evaluate his ministry and his priorities, including his involvement with "the politicized religion that had infected me and millions of others back in the eighties, when American evangelicals entered into their Faustian pact with Ronald Reagan's party." The author's seemingly sudden change from a card-carrying fundamentalist to a moderate on almost all controversial issues may be difficult to grasp, but some readers may be most startled by what Schenck put his wife and children through during three decades of unabated activism.
An informative book that leaves the author exposed throughout as the center of attention, as opposed to God.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Schenck, Rob: COSTLY GRACE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A534375133/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f2f530ed. Accessed 27 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A534375133
Costly Grace
Publishers Weekly. 265.15 (Apr. 9, 2018): p72.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Costly Grace
Rob Schenck. HarperCollins, $26.99 (352p)
ISBN 978-0-06-268793-7
Schenck, an evangelical minister widely known for his outspoken pro-life views, tells the personal story of his three religious conversion experiences in this revealing memoir. Born into a Jewish family, he came to believe in Christ as a teenager; pursued a right-wing, politically-driven faith as an adult; and finally experienced a spiritual reorientation that brought him back to what he views as the true meaning of the gospel. Schenck's marijuana-hazed adolescence took a life-altering turn when he attended church with a friend, an experience that inspired him to join the ministry. He initially worked with heroin addicts at a residential center before his strong political views took him to Washington. There, what began as a sense of moral urgency to protect life became self-righteous, hate-fueled anger toward anyone with opposing views. Schenck's superb self-critical writing draws readers in with tales of, for instance, rebuking President Clinton during Holy Communion (an act for which Schenck was nearly arrested) and stealing funds raised to help women with unexpected pregnancies. Gradually he comes to realize his flawed thinking ("In private times of reflection, I was ashamed. My unguarded midnight thoughts became more uncomfortable all the time"). As he fell deeper into the power games of Washington, an encounter with the work of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer inspired Schenck to reconsider his faith and the lessons of the gospel. Addressing libertarian evangelical ideologies, this powerful book is a universal call for a change of heart in both the political and sacred realms. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Costly Grace." Publishers Weekly, 9 Apr. 2018, p. 72. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A535100012/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ea8d7f42. Accessed 27 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A535100012