C-R-O-S-S is for "Courageous Robin, Out Saving Souls"

As for our Lord Jesus Christ, so for his disciples, the cross is our "faith place." The old logo for Seminex placed the cross on the fringe to remind us that faith in Christ takes us to places where others may not go.

Sharing the Eucharist Faith Place, St. Louis

The passionate story of the cross that follows is about another truly liberating ministry on the fringe. It is named "Faith Place." The fringe is territory long-abandoned by many, the inner city of St. Louis. But for those who work at "Faith Place," this is "holy ground."

Pastor Robin Morgan, our story-teller, is the mission developer of Faith Place. She is an ELCA pastor, a longtime friend and fellow partner in Crossings. Robin graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. in English in 1977 and received her M.Div. degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 1995. When she's not at Faith Place, she's at home with husband, Hal, and their two dogs, basset hound, Ezzie, and standard poodle, Beau (their three children have long since grown.)

Robin's passion, though, is in her lifelong ministry with and for those in the city, on the fringe, to whom she brings hope and encouragement. St. Michael--recall this name as an acronym for the One "Who is Like God," Jesus-the-Christ--fights together with his angels against the oppressive forces of sin, death, and the devil. No one is to be left marginalized, enslaved, ensnared on the fringes of life. Robin shares some of that living battle imagery in her story. She also shares the scars that come in the struggle.

As Robin says, "life seems to hang on the comma between the days of battle and the final day of victory. She might be the last to think of herself as courageous, especially when the battle is more than she or any of us can bear. Yet she takes comfort by faith that it is the same Jesus the Christ Who courageously holds the field--meaning, Faith Place and Robin and all of us. Jesus the Christ bears in his arms our scars and our despair on his cross, sharing the fringe with and for us all...and yet he gives to us through this same cross, our "faith place," the high and "holy ground" of joy and victory and life.

It is this cruciformed message that Robin brings for all at Faith Place. We get to grasp by faith the place of the cross and its victory for our lives. "Not what you do for God, but what God does for you--that's the agenda for rejoicing." Courage abounds.

michael c hoy

Since I graduated from seminary in 1995, actually even before that, I've been embroiled in urban ministry. From an eye-opening beginning in the White Women/Women of Color Dialogue Group at LSTC through volunteering at and then being ordained in one city congregation to starting a new mission in another part of the city, I've been drawn into the excitement and pain of doing urban work. I've tried to get away more than once, tried to escape into what I perceived to be easier situations and yet, the Lord wouldn't let me go. I stayed and I learned.

I've chosen the Gospel lesson from St. Michael's and All Angels, Luke 10:17-20, as the grounding for this article partially because it's September, St. Michael season. However, the primary reason is because Michael was a warrior and those of us who do urban ministry know, everyday, that we are in a spiritual battle. I have no desire to expunge battle language from our Christian vocabulary as do some of my colleagues. Though such metaphors have been mightily abused by empires masquerading as the Christian community, when you've ducked down and out of the line of fire during a gang war a time or two, there is no doubt in your mind that a battle for our cities is being fought. Or maybe even more telling of the war being waged in our midst is the apathy and paralysis of so many good people when such stories are told.

So we join the seventy-two in Luke 10 as they return from the mission Jesus had sent them out to do. They come back rejoicing and tell Him, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." What must it have been like for them to experience this power for the first time? Jesus says to them, "I've given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, to overcome all the power of the enemy." They walked and spoke in His name and evil had to get out of their way.

Courageous Robin

It amazes me how much more power we Christians have than we usually will let on or use. In July 2003 when we first started talking to people in the neighborhood where Faith Place (the first new Lutheran mission in the city of St. Louis in over 50 years) is located, we were thrilled by the response we received. People are hungry for Good News. Even if their desire is couched in something other than "God language", many folks are looking for answers to hard questions in their lives. Two of our volunteers spoke with a man who has been living with AIDS and had at one time been involved with a Lutheran congregation. When he heard what we wanted to do he said, "Thank God the ELCA is finally coming into these inner city neighborhoods." We rejoiced that we were bringing hope into situations that often had very little hope.

Faith Place has many success stories that encourage everyone who has been involved with our work. Our after-school program has drawn over 150 children from the neighborhood over the last two years. The combination of snacks, games, arts and crafts, Bible study and music, all in a safe environment off the streets, has continued to bring the kids back to our door. Our Wednesday evening worship service and community dinner have provided an opportunity for neighborhood folks along with people from other congregations to praise God together and get to know each other better over good food. These folks are realizing that they are brothers and sisters across the baptismal font even if they live miles and worlds apart.

However when the rejoicing stays focused on the routing of evil, the doing of good, the actions which we take, a shift begins to emerge. I sometimes feel like I live in the gap which Jesus left unspoken in Luke 10. Our Lord told the seventy-two to rejoice not that the spirits submit to them, but rejoice that their names are written in heaven. Sometimes, my life seems to hang on that comma between those phrases.

From time to time, the ancient boiler which heats Faith Place has gone out in the middle of a cold snap. From time to time, kids who finally seemed like they were learning to live beyond the insanity they learn at home completely lose it and scream at the top of their lungs, "I'm going to sue you!" as you escort them to the door for stealing or fighting or destroying property. From time to time, after speaking with passion and (I thought) persuasion to a suburban congregation about the significance of urban/suburban partnering for the good of the whole body of Christ in the area, I am escorted to the door with a smile and a dismissive, "Good luck with that."

At this point, rejoicing in the routing of evil just isn't doing it for me anymore. In fact, I can feel myself getting bitter and staying away from folks because I know that whatever comes out of my mouth when I'm with people who don't seem to understand or care (especially those who have lots of opinions, but won't get their hands dirty) will do more harm than good to this ministry that I love so much and to the people with whom I am speaking.

These are painful admissions to make and yet, the reality is much worse than even this. "Possession of spiritual power is no guarantee of salvation" (Fred Danker, Jesus and the New Age, p. 217). In our world today, there are many who claim to have and wield spiritual power. I may have done good things in getting a new ministry started in the city, but when I clutch at this work in my frustration and anger, my exhaustion and confusion, what is God thinking? Where is God rejoicing as I focus more and more on duplicating what has already been done than on God's own presence in my life? The Book of Life is certainly not on my radar screen and God's eraser hangs over the page with my name on it.

"Not what you do for God, but what God does for you -- that's the agenda for rejoicing" (Eugene Peterson, The Message, Luke 10:20).

Routing evil, the ultimate evil, was done long ago, two thousand years ago, by our Lord. He took our preoccupation with our own activities and the reaction of others to our work, he took the snakes and scorpions of our souls, and was nailed to the cross with them. Though God had committed all things to Jesus Christ, He let go of them all, let Himself be crucified so that we might have new life, Book of Life life, in Him. Jesus, our warrior savior, let Himself be killed in battle, so that He might win the war for our lives.

Prayer Circle at Faith Place

I forget this. Probably part of the reason I forget is because a big piece of me finds this kind of love unfathomable--especially when it comes to me. How can He love me?

I see this acted out in the lives of the kids who come to Faith Place. They act out, act up and we send them home for the day. But the next day they're welcomed back, told the expectations of how we conduct ourselves at Faith Place again and incorporated into whatever is happening at the moment. There's always another chance. Always another opportunity to open themselves up to the love that He gives to us all. Sometimes I can tell that the kids find it hard to believe this. They test us, try to get around us, but gradually they're beginning to see that there is a different way to live than according to the code of the streets. Book of Life life. That's what Faith Place is all about.

Are we really different from these kids? We challenge God, walk away, come back, profess our undying trust and walk away again. As adults, we do a better job of covering up our erratic relationship with this One who loves us unconditionally, but it amounts to the same thing. Yet He keeps offering us another opportunity to open ourselves up to His love. He gives us another chance to trust that Book of Life life really is better than whatever our little corner of the world is offering us today.

Of course, just because it's better doesn't mean it's easy. Book of Life life, for all the wonderful rejoicing we may do in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, can be pretty scary. I read somewhere recently that holy ground is where you are drawn, even compelled to stay with the Lord, while at the same time you know you ought to run like crazy. Book of Life life is dynamic and challenging to our settled perceptions and sense of domestic order.

I experienced a moment like this during the last week of July at Faith Place. Our summer program was in its fourth week and we had kids from the neighborhood as well as youth groups from suburban St. Louis and a youth group in from rural Wisconsin. The weather was typical St. Louis summer-- hot and humid. Faith Place has only two small air-conditioned rooms, so most of the building was warm to say the least. Five hours a day we worked together, played together, sang together, ate together, sweat together, and worshipped together.

One young man realized that he had a call from God to ministry during this week. Another young man realized that Christian faith wasn't just about quiet prayer and Bible reading, but could be lived out and celebrated in the middle of community with brothers and sisters. After seeing two men going through a dumpster in the alley, one young woman wondered aloud what it must be like to wake up every morning and only have dumpster diving to look forward to.

Our Lord challenges us to rejoice in what He has done for us and He challenges us to follow Him out of our comfort zones into His arms and into His work in the world.

robin morgan