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About
Rosalind Russell:
She has
lived in Laguna Beach nearly 25 years. She has no history of
acting, but with a name like hers it has been thought about.
She is
the director of the R STAR Foundation, (primarily for women and
children, but not exclusive to them); has a ministry in counseling
in a spiritual context; she has an on going prison ministry (20 + years), working on a one to one basis rather than groups within
the prisons; officiates at ceremonies for Holy Unions, Weddings,
Baptisms, Memorials as a licensed and ordained minister in both
California and Hawaii.
Her
hobbies include walking. Biking, writing, traveling, praying,
and kayaking in the open ocean and making her own line of
greeting cards for the past 16 years to use for her work and
ministry, but also gets to sell them with the proceeds always
going to the work of the Foundation.
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In
1988 a significant life change redirected Rosalind Russell to
return to school. She investigated the numerous seminaries in and
around California and decided upon the Santa Anta Church
Ministerial School in Arcadia
She was immediately accepted for attendance due to her past
under-graduate work as well as her intense desire to discover her
own spirituality as well as teach it in different ways than most
seminaries expect of their graduating clergy.
She excelled in her classes for the next 3 years, graduating first
of her class in 1990. She immediately began the second part of her
schooling so as to become Ordained as well. Because she did not
choose to do work in a church to achieve this added education as
is the standard in seminary, she had to petition the seminary
board with a program that she was interested in working, as well
as write the program,
which she did write and they agreed to.
The program she offered was to work for a year in E.L.A. with
Chicano gangs along with others of the community. She sat on
the board of Ramona Gardens Project for its entire
existence of 6 years.
Once her year was completed with submissions of what was achieved,
challenges met or not met, she was granted her ordination day.
However, Rev. Russell is not superficial, and she continued her
commitment to the gangs, the police in that area to continue until
it could be passed off to another better qualified than herself.
On her own, with no support financially, she did keep her personal
commitment to work with them for their improvement in jobs,
education and family matters. for an additional 5 years. While
there, reading programs were established for adults, youth
programs developed from T ball to boxing; the 'turf' was walked by
Rev. Russell with gang members at her side, not for her
protection, but rather their introduction to the businesses, so as
to reintegrate the disgruntled business owners with the idea of
hiring gang members as it would serve the world, a form of peace
being made after many years of continual break ins and robberies
on their own community; fundraising was done in a variety of ways
from car washes to selling tamales or auctioning off donated items
to bring in money for the programs for the community.
Counseling
It is easy to see her work touches her to this day with the
personal touch she adds as well as to developing a relationship
with the couple to the degree of their interest.
Rev. Russell offers counseling for the couples so as to avert
future difficulties at challenging times. Her mission and goal is
to teach that peace in the world begins with peace in the home.
The counseling is not comfrontive, but supportive, defining and
encouraging when all seems to be hopeless. This is not to say that
'work' is not to be done by the couple, rather that there is a
light to aim toward with resolve in view.
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