The AC Phoenix
December 2002
Page 51
“The Beginnins of the Charismatic Movement in the Triad”
Minister Francene Hash
By Minister Francine Hash
Part Two '
They Were Examples - This was a pivotal
season in the life of Bishop Reuben and Mother
Mildred Hash as they returned from Tulsa with
renewed energy and inspiration. They heeded to
their call to stand firm on what God had told
them to do. There was a bright continence on
Bishop Hash’s face like that of Moses when he
came off the mountain after spending three days
hearing from God as to how to lead the children
of Israel to the promise land. His beautiful thick
white hair shined like a halo. Bishop Hash had
banners made that read "Growth is Impossible without Change; Cope With
It So That We All Can Grow Together.” Many people made mockery of them
to the degree of sending them anonymous threatening letters and bomb
threats all because of their stand to break tradition in the church.
Bishop Hash, in his wisdom, knew that in order
for the people of the church to adapt to change,
they would have to see an exampleof the Word in
action. The first example was the COGA Annual
Conference. He changed the format to include
renowned men and women of God such as Dr.
Frederick Price, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin,
Tommy Barnett, Myles Munroe, Benson Idahosa,
Phil Driscoll, Bill and Renae Morris, Charles Capps
and many more. He hired Dr. Harvey Watson, a
church ministry consultant, to come each year to
conduct workshops on getting the church house in
order. His decision was to train the pastors and
leaders on Church and Business Operations for
maximum church growth. He opened the sessions
to the public by conducting conferences on neutral ground at the Benton
Convention Center.
Bishop Reuben Hash often stated that “you have to “lead” sheep to
change, not “drive” them to it.” As a means to gradually implement change,
the School of Ministry and the Ministry of Helps Departments were started
at his church. This resulted in the congregation understanding the purpose
for ministry operations and many began to see themselves as gifts to the
Body of Christ. They began to understand God’s plan for tne Church and
how God chooses people who are willing to yield to His Word to increase.
True Shepherds - Bishop Reuben K. and Mother Mildred demonstrated
cheerful spirit-filled hearts; full of joy and happiness and were loved by not
only their own flock, but by the community and people world-wide. Without
fail. Bishop Reuben K. and Mother Hash labored tirelessly to teach and
preach the Word of God nourishing their flock with rich spiritual food for
growth and living. Mark 10;45 says, “For even the son of man did not come
to be served, and give His life a ransom for many.” This versa explicitly
defines a servant because a servant gives, forgives, and forgets. These
qualities were evident in Bishop and Mother Mildred Hash. They gave of
themselves for their flock’s good. They forgave others when they were
wronged and sought to restore them to the fold, and often placed their
flock’s welfare before their own. This is the unselfish spirit that Bishop and
Mother Hash displayed to their congregation daily.
Bishop and Mother Hash were true shepherds. Unger's Bible Dictionary
defines a shepherd as “to tend” or “one who tends”. It goes on to say that
he leads his flock from the fold, going before them..., calling them;...he
finds those who stray..., he supplies them with water, and finally he
watches their entrance by night.
the late Bishop
R.K. Hash, Sr.
The Epitome of Excellence - Bishop Reuben K. Hash was the epitome of
empowered excellence and worked to instill that concept not only into his
family, church members, and friends, but within all with whom he came in
touch. Therefore, every program he began or inspired demanded
excellence.
Bishop Hash envisioned the church as a place that reaches out into the
community, providing healing to hurting people, deliverance to the
oppressed, and encouragement to the youth. Realizing the plight of many
young people, especially young men, steps were taken to work diligently
and intensely with them in an effort to make each young man an overcomer,
while enhancing his self-esteem. As a result. The Beaux-tillion Program
was established, and it represented the culmination of training designed to
build strong young men who will eventually be responsible leaders in their
families, churches, communities, and institutions in our society.
Because of the Godly stand Bishop & Mother Hash took, their church
became one of the fastest growing churches in the Southeast to the point
that it provoked them to look for land to expand. During this time, many
schools were closing and being placed on the mar
ket for sale. Because Shiloh Baptist Church was
seeking to purchase the same school as St. Peter’s,
Bishop Hash and Dr. J. Ray Butler formed a corpo
ration called the Shilohian St. Peter’s Family Center.
The purchase of the school still did not solve the
challenge of providing enough land to expand the
old church building; therefore. Bishop Hash formed
the Research and Referral committee to begin the
search for land to build a new church. After looking
at many locations, the committee finally found a
place that Mother Hash had seen in a dream.
Mother Hash told her story of a dream where she
saw a great big open place that had a lot of red dirt.
She said that in her dream, a group of them were
walking through this place and stumbled upon a glass case that had a
beautiful woman sleeping in it. When they opened the box, the woman
opened her eyes and said, “Where have you been? I have been waiting for
you for so long.” When the committee brought Mother Hash to see the
land, she instantly knew that that was the place she had dreamed of and
they began Phase I.
Resignation as Senior Pastor - Many Supernatural things began to
happen. As Bishop Reuben K. Hash stood in the pulpit at the church on
Highland Ave. one Sunday and began to summarize his sermon, he turned
to the congregation and began to prophesy. He told how God was
confirming that he was entering into a new season of his ministry and
announced that he would be retiring. He turned to Rev. J. C. Hash, Sr. and
announced that he would be turning the pastorship of the church over to
him. This transition occurred in 1987.
Bishop Hash often told the story of a vision that he had while sitting in
the pulpit of the church whereby he saw a large field of beautiful flowers
and down in the flowers were thousands of babies. The Lord confirmed to
him that this meant that the vision was so large it would take a lot of young
people with much energy to bring it to pass.
He continued to teach this message to pastors wherever he went that
they must know when it is time to pass on the mantle. He also continued
his pursuit to teach and to train pastors and began his travels throughout
the country.
Pioneer. Impact. Legacy. - On June 17, 1993, Bishop Reuben K. Hash,
Sr. expired this life on earth and is now enjoying eternal life with the Lord.
Mother Hash is still shouting, singing, and preaching with the fire of a
Continued on Page 61
Mother Mildred Hash