OPINION|
Our city has been fortunate to have a spirit in the night, someone who has cared for and loved those less fortunate who sleep in woods and under bridges on cold nights.
Christie Love, who founded The Connecting Grounds church in 2018, announced earlier this month on Facebook she will step down as pastor at the end of February.
It was two years ago, on a January night with a full moon and temperature of 8 degrees, that I ventured out with Love and a few church members to care for those without shelter. They offered blankets, hot soup and a ride, for those willing, to a cold-weather shelter.
I was reporting a profile piece I would write about Love. It had taken me some time to get her to agree to allow me, a photographer and a videographer to accompany her.
She first had to trust me; she was concerned a story might reveal the places where people were sleeping and camping — leading to law enforcement rousting them — and concerned we might publish identifiable pictures or video of people who did not want that.
Man in tent knew her, of course he did
At one point that night, we stopped the van at the end of a street and walked across a field toward a bridge support. I had no idea where we were going. I eventually could discern three small tents near the concrete wall.
As we approached, Love shouted, “Outreach!”
No response. Certainly, I thought, no one would be in these tents on this night.
I then noticed the smoldering embers of a fire. Next, a head poked out from a tent. The man cuddled a small dog.
“I told you I was going to get a dog,” he told Love.
He knew her. Of course, he knew her.
Over years of working with the unsheltered, Love has come to know almost everyone who lives on the streets or alleys or the woods of Springfield.
What would Jesus do? You're looking at it
Love, now 43, has been relentless and determined, watching over Springfield at all hours, not just wintry nights, and has lived the calling of Christ — even during a worldwide pandemic.
I wrote a column about her in March 2020 when I worked at the Springfield News-Leader. The headline was: “What would Jesus do? I imagine it would look pretty much like Christie Love”
Love technically broke the law when she fed the hungry after authorities had ordered city residents to isolate and not gather in groups. She stood eye-to-eye with police officers and told them, “Tell me where to send them and I will send them there.'”
Of course, there was no where else to send them.
She is stepping down as pastor for health reasons and because she needs to finish her doctoral work. She will remain connected to church leadership as an advisor.
The Connecting Grounds’ Associate Pastor Rue Lohn will take over as lead pastor.
Love wrote on Facebook she has full confidence in Lohn’s “ability, passion, and purpose to lead The Connecting Grounds into a new season.”
She's been on-call for years
I have often wondered how Love could continue to give so much of herself to her ministry. How do you not burn out? Or get sick?
Love has served this city on-call for years now, taking off Sundays only. Her church services have been on Saturday evening.
In her Facebook post, Love did not explain her health problems. But she did in the profile I wrote.
She has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a blood flow disorder. A key characteristic is an increase in heart rate when standing.
The syndrome leads to not enough blood returning to the brain, which can be felt as lightheadedness, brain fog and fatigue. POTS can cause shakiness and chest pain.
At the time, she told me: “Cold weather outreach can be a miserable thing for me sometimes. Once I get cold, my body just does not know how to warm up.”
Don't worry, someone's coming with shoes
The work of The Connecting Grounds will continue. But it will never be the same.
My colleague, Jackie Rehwald, occasionally volunteers at the crisis cold weather shelter for homeless women. The shelter opens on nights when the temperature dips to 32 degrees or colder and is housed inside the Grace United Methodist Church in downtown Springfield.
Jackie wrote about the program and her experiences as a volunteer for the Daily Citizen last year.
She shared with me that a year or so ago she was volunteering one cold and snowy night when she noticed that one of the women at the shelter was wearing sandals instead of shoes.
Jackie asked if those were her only shoes. The woman responded not to worry — she had been referred to someone at a church and that shoes were on the way to the shelter that very night.
Hours went by. At 10 p.m., Jackie tells me, it was lights out at the shelter.
Then, in the darkness, the doorbell rang. At the door, holding a pair of boots, was Christie Love.
Here is a link to information on how to help at the city's cold weather shelters.
This is Pokin Around column No. 156.
