Billy Graham was once asked what he thought was one of the worst sins. He said, "racism." In the spring of 1995, Promise Keepers theme was "racial reconciliation." A group of men from McLean Bible Church (MBC) decided to attend the first Promise Keepers. They also wanted to start a dialogue, build a relationship, and partner with an African-American church in Washington, DC and invite them to Promise Keepers.

Some of the members of this group included Richard Schacht, Will Townshend, and Jeff Boltz. Richard Schacht (Dick) also decided to take the lead in this new ministry of Racial Reconciliation. After a member of MBC contacted Southeast Christian Fellowship Church (SECF) where Rickey Bolden was the Pastor, a dialogue began. About 70 men from both churches went to Promise Keepers. And from that, a core group decided to have regular fellowships that included picnics, bowling, and meetings.

Dick along with Lon Solomon, Rickey Bolden, Steve Fitzhugh, and Ron Johnson started a series of breakfast meetings to share a vision of what would later be The House. Dick took on the task of meeting with Rickey and Steve at SECF to develop a mission and vision statement, and a strategy of what they wanted to do.

With his wife Patti at his side, Dick started reading a book called "Rebuilding the Wall." It was about racial reconciliation between two churches that merged—a white church and a black church in Chicago. Dick says that he did not understand why he was being called into the ministry of racial reconciliation but knew he had to follow God’s lead. And with the support of Patti, they both walked through this journey together and were very involved with The House.

Dick knew this would be tough. However, as a retired corporate executive, Dick was used to catching the vision, dealing with mergers, conflicts, and pushing things through until completion. They knew that they were being part of taking back another of God’s territory—Southeast, Washington, DC. Dick and Patti says that it has been an amazing experience to see what God is doing and to be a part of it. They would do this all over again because "it’s about the kids, their hope and their future. Our marriage mission statement is first, to pass the torch of faith on to our grandchildren and second, give back to our local community first. We want the same opportunities that our children and grandchildren have for the people in the inner city."

As Dick retires from The House Board on December 31, 2006, (first as Chairman and for the past five years as Treasurer), we want to thank him and Patti for their labor of love and commitment. Dick & Patti Schacht are living out I Thessalonians 4:9 (NLT) "But I don’t need to write to you about the Christian love that should be shown among God’s people. For God himself has taught you to love one another."

Thank you both for your love and service!