JANETTE MCVEY
When members of St. Michael Lutheran decided to bring their “church out into the world,” the idea literally rocked. They now host Rock to the Future (
www.rocktothefuturephilly.org), an after-school program that provides music education to Phila-
suites of commercial space became available in a professional plaza. Desert Cross immediately shifted gears from building and became the proud owner of a shopping center. “As we began to look at how this
came together,” Dobyns said, “our plan wasn’t to do this at all. We have a great group of people to support what God is up to and where God is leading us. We’re not a community that thinks things have to be a certain way. We believe God leads in a lot of ways and works in mysterious ways, and maybe we needed an unconven- tional look at things.” The church’s No. 1 goal was to meet community needs, Dobyns said: “The way our culture is set up,
24 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
delphia’s underserved youth at no cost to them. Students like Sophia Monteiro (center) get to learn their choice of instru- ment, form bands with their peers, write music and perform live. Joshua (left) and Jessica Craft direct the program.
we’re accustomed to only driving a short distance to go to the grocery store, fill our car with gas, and to fulfill all our day-to-day needs. This is a part of our challenge and Desert Cross stepped out to meet this need.” Starting a mission was risky. The
ELCA failed twice in Gilbert, but Desert Cross felt led by the Spirit that the timing was right. The failing economy had forced the strip mall’s developer to abandon it, leaving it to foreclosure. “We began dreaming what it would look like to have worship space in there and to build out the remaining suites,” said Dobyns, who has been at Desert Cross for three years. “The idea was taking form.
“It’s interesting how God led us to the process. The land we owned was in a subdivision and not near a main road. The shopping plaza is near a main intersection—location and visibility were great.” Since the plaza had no other ten- ants, Desert Cross could build it out and make it look like a church. Today, 10:15 a.m. Sunday wor- ship at the Gilbert campus of Desert Cross draws about 100 people from various Christian backgrounds. Some come because it’s an ELCA church; others because they heard something special happens in the building, he said. The Gilbert campus has some appeal to families whose young
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