In 1996, a coach at our kids’ school handed our son, Jon, a small brochure written by Jim Rutz. It had a lion on the front cover, and was about a different kind of church that Jim envisioned and called “open church.” Our hearts resonated with the message, because it described a kind of church that we had tasted back in the UK but had searched in vain for here in the States.
It was a joy to meet Jim shortly after this when he organized a conference to discuss these ideas (with the Dunns from New Zealand). Jim quickly became a firm friend. We loved his quirky sense of humor (his home had cartoon characters on the blinds), his hunger to know more of Jesus, his loyalty to his friends. He was generous to a fault–the videos that our son, Tim, made for House2House were only possible because of Jim’s generosity.
Jim started an organization to promote the ideas behind open church–a church where Jesus was the leader, all of us were participants, the Holy Spirit was the MC. He held conferences around the country that many of us who were later involved in the house/simple/organic church movement attended.
We were part of a different group with Jim that met for several years with no vision and purpose except to wait on God and hear what he said to us. They were extraordinary times, and Jim was an integral part of them. Jim stayed with us in our home several times, and we had the privilege of staying in his amazing home with spectacular views over Colorado Springs. We’ve had many a conversation about the Kingdom lasting late into the night.
Jim’s book The Open Church touched many lives and was perhaps the forerunner to the house church movement in this country. His other well known book, Megashift: Igniting Spiritual Power
It was with surprise and great sadness that we learned two days ago that Jim had gone to be with the Lord he loved and served with all his heart.
We’ll miss you, Jim, but rejoice that you are now in Jesus’ presence, face to face with your Lord. One day we’ll meet again….
3 replies on “In memoriam: James Rutz”
We read, were influenced by, and enjoyed both those books, especially “Open Church”. Sad to hear of Jim’s passing, but thanks for letting us know.
quite the dude–and now far better off.
It was through the Open Church site I found you and Tony. I did not know Jim as well as you, but I worked with and visited with him often and was quite fond of him. He was indeed generous and wonderful to be with.
I am happy for him, but sad for all of us waiting to join him.