New Rust Street Director Rises to the Challenge of Serving in San Angelo

Rust Street Ministries has been a forerunner in San Angelo ministry for years, distributing food and clothes to countless “neighbors” in the community. Last October, former director Bob Knox chose to retire. However, as of last Monday, minister Bryan Jarvis has risen to meet the challenge of running Rust Street.

“One thing that attracted me to this work was there [were] never words like benevolence used," Jarvis said. “[Our clients are called] neighbors. These people matter; they’re our friends, and it’s an honor to serve them. Everyone [at Rust Street] has that spirit.”

Whenever Johnson Street Church of Christ began looking for a new director for Rust Street, the church relied on its members and their connections to ministers throughout the country. When Dr. Carson Reed of Abilene Christian University heard of the church’s needs, he recommended Jarvis. At the time, Jarvis had been a pulpit minister in Valdosta, Georgia for almost 10 years.

When the list of potential directors was narrowed down to three candidates, the church flew Jarvis in and interviewed each of the finalists.

“His talent, experience, and heart for people really shined in his interviews,” said Rust Street Ministries Board of Directors member Michael O’Briant. “When we finished interviewing all of the finalists, we offered him the job and he accepted it.”

The church gave Jarvis’s family time to prepare for their move and for Jarvis’s son to graduate high school. Jarvis arrived last Saturday, and, after being presented to the Johnson Street congregation, “hit the ground running” the following Monday.

In the months before Jarvis had arrived, Janet Branhan had been serving as the interim director for Rust Street. Now that Jarvis has taken charge, Branhan has returned to her previous job as the administrative assistant for the ministry.

Gratitude and Purpose

Jarvis expressed gratitude for the positive response and encouragement that he has already had from the community.

“[The response has been] absolutely overwhelmingly positive,” Jarvis said. “People here are serving with smiles. They’re glad to be here. I’ve been to about three meetings in the community, and people have been so kind and so inviting. Across the board, it’s just been wonderful.

Since beginning his work as director last Monday, Jarvis has been learning the organization's history, how the ministry runs and meeting volunteers.

“Right now, I just want to get to know the volunteers,” Jarvis said. “There’s 126 of them, so it’s a lot to learn. I just really want to be part of the team.”

Even though Jarvis has been working with Rust Street for only a short while, he already seems impressed with the ministry’s volunteers.

“[The volunteers] love Jesus,” Jarvis said. “That’s why they’re here. They [work] with a smile on their face, and they absolutely just have a heart to serve people in Jesus’s name. You can tell it from top to bottom.”

San Angelo LIVE! asked Jarvis what the purpose of Rust Street is.

“Well, the Bible’s pretty clear that Jesus said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve and give my life,” Jarvis responded. “That’s Mark 10:45. That’s really what [Rust Street] is all about.”

Rust Street is intended to be a Christian organization. Its practices include praying with each client and a budding worship service on the site. Furthermore, management is deeply tied to Johnson Street Church of Christ.

“Jesus says the best way to serve Him is to serve people in His name,” Jarvis said. "So everything that we do here, we don’t get the glory. God gets the glory. So Jesus said, 'If you love me, you’ll obey my commands,' and his commands are to serve people. So that’s why we do what we do, to glorify God and to serve our Savior.”

The Search and Board of Directors

O’Briant said, according to the bylaws of Rust Street, the Rust Street Board of Directors has to be made up of Johnson Street members; furthermore, there has to be a minimum of two Johnson Street elders on the board. Including O’Briant, the current number is up to three when a retired elder is not included. Additionally, the board includes two Johnson Street staff members representing different areas of ministry.

“We’ve got people from all walks of life [who] serve on the board,” O’Briant said.

The Rust Street Ministries Board of Directors chose five of their members to select the new Rust Street director. These members were responsible for searching for and interviewing the candidates for the position.

Since the Rust Street director is on the ministerial staff for Johnson Street, the church was looking for someone who works well with the rest of the staff.

“We were looking for someone who had experience in working with people who are in need, people who are similar to the neighbors that we serve,” O'Briant said. “Someone just with a heart for Jesus who sees people the way Jesus sees them, which is not ‘is this a person in need?’ but ‘this is a person.’ That’s what we think we found with Bryan Jarvis.”

Expansion

Last year, Rust Street went through a huge expansion when members added a new building that they remodeled to the site. O’Briant said that the new property is triple the size of the original building. After the newer site was added, Rust Street remodeled the original structure as well.

“There will always be construction at Rust Street to make it more usable, so I doubt that we’ll ever be totally finished,” O’Braint said. “We certainly, within the last year, have got it a lot more usable and a lot more comfortable for both the volunteers and the neighbors we serve. There [are] only three full-time staff members and two part-time staff members, and the rest of our work is done by volunteers, so we keep in mind what the needs of the volunteers are as well.”

For more details about Rust Street’s expansion last year, check out San Angelo LIVE!’s previous article concerning the ministry.

The Future

San Angelo LIVE! asked O’Briant about the plans that Rust Street has for the future.

“That’s hard to say,” O’Briant said. "We like to be open to the direction that God is leading; we never want to sit and rest on our laurels, but we’re sort of at a point of trying to assess what the needs are and move in the direction that we feel called, and that’s why we we're anxious for a new director. We are hoping to continue to be on the front edge of the needs of San Angelo and the surrounding community. [Rust Street hopes to] be able to do more than just provide physical food and clothing and housewares, but to be able to provide for spiritual needs as well. So that’s sort of where we are now, looking for how we can provide those spiritual needs.”

Jarvis expressed similar feelings about Rust Street’s future. However, his were compounded by his need to familiarize himself with the ministry before making changes.

“If something ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it,” Jarvis said. “Right now, [I’m working to] just learn the system. Over time, we’re going to say, 'How can we expand? How can we help people more?' But for now, it’s just being part of the team, [and] enjoying this great work and [serving]. “

In the meantime, Jarvis is intending to become a part of the Rust Street organization and the community as a whole.  

“I’m just honored to be here,” Jarvis said. “The people in the town, in the church, and at Rust Street have been amazing. We just want to be part of the community. We want to serve and make this organization and this town the best it can be.”