Getting at the crux of the problem
An outpost in an area often forgotten by the mainstream church
Somehow it is appropriate that a self-described post-modern church would best be characterized by words appearing on its Web site: “The Crux is a church that desires for individuals to live their life as 24/7 Christians in a dark world. However, we also desire to connect, refuel, learn, serve, celebrate, and spend time together as a body. We invite you to take a look at various happenings we have planned!”
The Crux is a new church start of the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). The fledgling congregation, started about a year ago, meets at DeLaSalle High School on Nicollet Island in downtown Minneapolis. “We see ourselves serving the Minneapolis riverfront, said the Rev. Paul Spaulding, co-pastor with his wife Renee Spaulding.
The Revs. Paul and Renee Spaulding are the pastors of The Crux, a new LCMC church start currently meeting at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis. Jamie Strickler (right), a Luther Seminary student preparing for ordination, is an intern serving The Crux.
The idea for starting a post-modern church came to this clergy couple while visiting a son in Seattle, in the shadow of the Space Needle. “We saw that, although there were a few niche or hang-in-there congregations still there, most churches had abandoned the downtown area 60 years ago,” said Paul.
“Our experience was changed by this reality,” the male Spaulding went on. “But Seattle wasn’t our calling; this population of [unchurched young] Americans was our calling.”
At the point they knew they would be returning to the Twin Cities, they began conversations with local LCMC leaders about the best place for such a ministry. The LCMC structure allows a great deal of flexibility in planning such efforts. The LCMC contacts consistently heard that “young urbanites” were not adequately served, and that the downtown area was a good possibility for a church that could meet their needs.
Called to congregational styles
Congregations are the primary expression of the LCMC, according to Paul. It’s the church body’s charism, he would say.
“Not only do delegates to conventions vote on topics before the body,” he explained. “But then it goes back for the approval of congregations. Constitutional changes must be approved by three-quarters of the congregations if delegates pass them.
“We strongly encourage congregational responsibility,” Paul explained. “For instance, background checks [on clergy] are the responsibility of the congregation, not a bishop’s office.”
In selecting pastors, LCMC “asks pastors to take responsibility. If there is a call on your life, say it to the world. Don’t wait for a bureaucrat to announce it.”
Paul would know. In addition to being lead pastor of The Crux, he is part-time national staff as the director of pastoral certification. In selecting pastors, LCMC “asks pastors to take responsibility. If there is a call on your life, say it to the world. Don’t wait for a bureaucrat to announce it.”
The congregations involved in LCMC, many of which broke away from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America more than seven years ago, are not quick to develop a hierarchical structure. “We remind ourselves we don’t want to go there very quickly,” Spaulding said. “We want to be structurally and ecclesially limber,” he explained, noting that some of the other Lutheran bodies did not seem to be as nimble.
Creatively, the LCMC is using existing institutions to meet immediate needs. Many pastors come from places like Fuller Seminary, as did Renee. Currently though they have an intern from Luther Seminary, an ELCA seminary in St. Paul.
Jamie Strickler’s call is to build a congregation that centers on homeless people. With two years of schooling left, he already has a call from two churches in Des Moines, Iowa, to start an outreach mission to homeless people there. His internship with The Crux gives him ministry experience in an urban setting.
Rather than learning a denominational strategy, Strickler believes, he is learning about having faith in what happens. “The question is whether we will trust Jesus to build the church,” he said.
What does success look like in such a setting? Paul’s years of experience have taught him it is not the size of the congregation or the length of time it exists. “It’s the impact on people’s lives that is the mark of success of Christian community,” he contends. That, in fact, sounds like a post-modern perspective, if there is one.
For more information, visit the congregations’s Web site at www.thecruxlife.org.
Tags: DeLaSalle High School, Jamie Strickler, LCMC, Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, Paul Spaulding, Renee Spaulding, The Crux
