Note to the Reader: This is part one of a blog series about feeling called away from the church that has been my home for the past 6 1/2 years. Part two will be a letter from the Pastor written to communicate his part of the story. It's been such a privilege to be under his leadership for all of my adult life so far and I was honored that he would take the time to write this letter so I wanted to share it as well!
Ever since I came to Saint Louis for school back in the fall of 2005, being involved in a local church has been absolutely critical for me. God blessed me very early on by leading me to work in the Housing Department at SLU where I met a guy who was interning at this place called Rooftop Community Church. He invited me to go with him when I was making the rounds as a scared 18-year-old in a new place trying to find a home. I immediately fell in love, stopped my church-search, and planted myself in that community.
For the past 6 1/2 years, Rooftop has been my home. When most of my
personal life fell apart during my freshman year of college, it was the
place where Jesus called me into community. When I first felt called to
be a missionary, it was Rooftop that came alongside me equipping and
encouraging me to follow Jesus into the mission field. For me, Rooftop
is not just my "church" or my "friends" (though both of those are true);
Rooftop is family.
With this family behind me, I started my missionary journey at SLU.
About a year ago, my students and I were invited by a church in Soulard
to partner with them in tutoring 3rd graders at Peabody Elementary in
the Peabody Projects between Soulard and Lafayette Square. Peabody is
one of the lowest performing elementary schools in the city and is
located in the heart of this project neighborhood. About 15 of my
students and I started volunteering there on a regular basis and fell in
love with the school and the students. I started dreaming more and
more about what it would look like to build greater bridges between the
City and the Campus.
As the partnership between InterVarsity and this local church grew
stronger, several of my students began attending and even became
members. At this point, about 20 SLU IV students attend there with some
sort of regularity. I began praying about what the next steps in
partnership would look like and started to ask God if he was calling me
to join my students there and further lock arms with those who were
actively ministering in these city neighborhoods. Over the past six
months, I've gathered lots of people around me to pray. Matt
and I met together and prayed. My bosses and I met together and
prayed. I eventually met with the elders and prayed. As much as I
could never have imagined leaving Rooftop, it felt like God kept
confirming that this was the right decision. It felt like he was (and
is) calling me deeper into his mission in the City, to begin building
this greater bridge between the Campus and the Peabody Projects.
So I find myself in the middle of a gigantic transition that can
only be described as "being sent." I'm moving from the east side of the
Loop into Peabody. My intern for next year (currently a senior) is
coming with me and 4 other leaders are praying and actively looking into
moving into the projects with me. I have dreams of tithing 25% of our
leadership team every year to God's mission in this neighborhood. How
amazing would it be if this generation of student leaders not only gave
up part of their time in college to living and working in the inner city
but also decided to stay after graduating? God is filling me with
vision and passion for this next step and I can't wait to see how it all
happens.
With the Elders' blessing, I'm also "being sent" from Rooftop to
that local church, August Gate, in South City where about 1/2 of my
current leadership team and 20+ SLU students already attend. I
told God at the very beginning that the evidence of His direction
would have to be overwhelming before I would ever stop actively
attending Rooftop and, over the past six months, he has confirmed this
decision. This is obviously a bittersweet transition as my heart
also feels joy and anticipation in praying for Rooftop's future,
elders, leaders, and people. Please know that I'm still around as one
of Rooftop's missionaries and would love to sit down and share more
about what's coming for the ministry at SLU or just catch up on life
over coffee. Thank you for your continued support as I follow our
missionary God into whatever he has for me in this season - I need your
prayers now more than ever and it's such a joy to have people to walk
with when things get crazy!
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