Some may think Rue Lohn has big shoes to fill, but Lohn doesn’t even want to try stepping into those shoes.

This spring, Lohn will take over as the lead pastor of The Connecting Grounds, a church, outreach center and homeless shelter located on the west side of Springfield. Lohn will succeed founder Christie Love, who announced her resignation on Facebook Tuesday afternoon. Love’s last day is Feb. 28.

“I am not Christie,” Lohn told the News-Leader on Wednesday. “I by all means know that I could not be Christie, and I don’t think I really should, because Christie’s relationship with people … is unique. She has been such a vital mentor, leader and friend for everyone in Springfield who has gotten to know her.”

Love founded The Connecting Grounds in 2018 and told the News-Leader on Wednesday that she knew, even then, that the church was not going to be a “forever” project for her.

“My heart was to build a church and create a really amazing, strong staff and leadership team and then find a healthy transition for leadership down the road,” she said. “I have a call to the local church and a passion for the local church, but I also have a passion and calling to work in greater spaces around churchwork around the country.”

In her Facebook post, Love said there are “numerous factors” for her resignation, including health issues that make it difficult to keep up with the job’s demanding schedule.

When speaking with the News-Leader, Love said she is not ready to disclose more details about her health, but she is managing autoimmune-related issues that quickly worsened over the last season.

“I have come to understand that for my well-being, I need to make some changes to my stress level, activity level, and immune system exposure,” Love said in her Facebook post. “I am working with great doctors and have confidence in the future, but for now … I need to make some changes that allow me to heal.”

Additionally, Love is finalizing her doctorate degree. In May, she will receive her Doctorate of Ministry from the Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, where the bulk of her studies have focused on religious trauma.

Through summer and fall 2023, Love conducted an “extensive” case study of religious trauma in Springfield, working with about 508 participants. Love said she is not ready to share the details of her study yet but is looking forward to publishing her findings in the spring.

A season of change

From the moment Love met Lohn, she knew they were going to be her successor.

“I think one of the things that’s unique about what we have built at The Connecting Grounds is it really is kind of a hybrid blend of social work and pastoral care, as well as just community outreach and social service support,” Love told the News-Leader. “It takes a unique person who has interest and skill sets in those areas to provide leadership, and Rue definitely has those things.”

Lohn, a Springfield native, holds an associate’s degree in behavioral health from Ozarks Technical Community College and will graduate with their bachelor’s degree in community health from Drury University in the spring. In the fall, Lohn is looking to attend seminary.

Lohn began volunteering at The Connecting Ground’s Outreach Center in 2020, specifically serving on the Street Outreach team, providing necessities to the unhoused community during the winter season. At the time, they were a case worker for Burrell Behavior Health and were interested in adding more tangible resources to those in need in Springfield.

In July 2022, Lohn became a co-director of The Connecting Grounds’ Family Connection program, which provides safe spaces for families in the foster care system to meet during parent-child visits. They then began volunteering with The Connecting Grounds’ Cooperative Youth Group, a support group for middle and high school-aged youth. Soon, they were asked to serve as the group’s director.

Lohn grew up in an evangelical church setting and has spent many years deconstructing their understanding of church, especially as someone who identifies as queer.

“I grieved that (the church) for awhile until I got to the point where I knew that I still had a passion for the church and a passion for ministry and what it meant to create community but didn’t know where that could be, given my identity,” Lohn said. That’s when they discovered The Connecting Grounds.

“From there, you pull one string and everything unravels,” Lohn said with a chuckle.

As a queer person, Lohn said they are not ignorant to the fact that their identity will influence their work, but they are excited for larger plans that go beyond aiding Springfield’s LGBTQ community.

When reflecting on The Connecting Grounds over the last three or so years, Lohn described the church as in a mode of growth. Now, Lohn is looking forward to thinking more about sustainability, getting “really good at” what the church offers to the community.

Specifically, Lohn expressed interested in strengthening The Connecting Grounds’ relationship with the YouthConnect Center, which provides a drop-in shelter for school-aged youth in Springfield. Lohn said they also hope to encourage more area churches to get involved with aiding those in need.

In addition to work at The Connecting Grounds, Lohn will continue collaborating with Love through their podcast, “Flipped Table Theology.” Available on most streaming services, “Flipped Table Theology” is a weekly podcast that deconstructs harmful theology. In addition to Lohn and Love, the podcast features Rev. Phil Snider of Brentwood Christian Church, Holly Madden, the family connection director and co-founder of The Connecting Grounds, and Shurita Thomas-Tate, a member of the Springfield Public School Board. “Flipped Table Theology” is a project independent of The Connecting Grounds.

A brief look at the past five-plus years

Today, The Connecting Grounds headquarters sits at 4341 W. Chestnut Expressway, but the church has undergone several changes over the past five-plus years.

When reflecting on the church’s growth, Love told the News-Leader that while she is proud of the physical accomplishment The Connecting Grounds has made, like the establishment of Family Connection program and the Outreach Center, it’s the people that matter to her most.

“Honestly, I think when I look back over the last five or six years, what I take the time to reflect over is not accomplished projects, it’s people,” Love told the News-Leader. “It’s hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of names and stories who have volunteered, who have come to us for help, who I’ve had the distinct privilege of getting to cheer on while they overcame unbelievable obstacles. We’ve seen parents reunify with their kids in foster care. We’ve seen people overcome addictions and homelessness and get back into very stable place again. I will take with me these stories and people the most of all.”

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In 2019, just a few months after its establishment, the church moved into its first home — the strip mall at the corner of Commercial Street and National Avenue. In this space, the church began working with Gathering Friends, a group of community members that volunteers to help the unhoused.

At this C-Street location, the two organizations offered a low-barrier food and clothing pantry to those in need, a safe space for foster children and their parents to visit with each other, along with evening meals and fellowship to those in the community.

In 2019, The Connecting Grounds partnered with the Springfield Chamber Chorus and Gathering Friends to launch the Springfield Street Choir, a group that was comprised of unhoused and formerly unhoused individuals. For a period of time, weekly choir practice was held at The Connecting Grounds location on C-Street.

In June 2020, The Connecting Grounds moved to its current location on Chestnut Expressway after a few months of creative problem solving at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the Springfield community as a whole in her post, Love encouraged folks to continue fighting the good fight.

“Keep volunteering, keep donating, keep advocating, keep connecting and keep working to make Springfield a better community for all its citizens,” she said. “It is my greatest hope and deepest prayer that Springfield develops into the potential that I know it must be a model community for how to come together and address poverty and homelessness.”

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Connecting Grounds founder Christie Love announces resignation