wfn.org | He's Poker Steve and Preacher Steve to Deadwood's gaming

["Clifford L. Willis"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

community
Date: September 2, 1998
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

98b-56

By Donna Fisher, editor
Dakotas Connection/Living Waters*

	DEADWOOD, S.D. (UMNS) --You can find the Rev. Steve Agan, a 
sandy-haired man wearing a white cowboy hat, dealing poker at Durty 
Nellie's on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Deadwood, S.D. And, if 
you stay until closing, you can walk with the Christian Church 
(Disciples of Christ) minister through the streets of the gambling 
town as he invites people to his midnight Bible study at Callahan's, 
a bar upstairs.

	His business card reads "Preacher Smith Ministries" and sports the 
United Methodist Church cross and flame. The mission to the 
community's gaming community is named for the Methodist circuit rider 
who came to Deadwood in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.  

	Deadwood, the oldest and rowdiest of the Black Hills mining towns, 
had an early history of gaming and prostitution. In recent years, 
when the South Dakota legislature permitted casino gambling, 
supposedly to fund historic restoration, a sophisticated and 
full-fledged gaming industry took over the little community.

	These days, Agan coordinates a wide range of ministries in 
partnership with the Rev. Eric Grinager, pastor at Lead, S.D., and 
Rob Olson, pastor of the Deadwood United Methodist Church.

	"Once a week, we three meet for lunch in different casinos and the 
bars," Agan said. "Waitresses, bartenders and dealers are starting to 
connect with me." Agan, ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples 
of Christ), sees his work as a co-ministry with the Lead and Deadwood 
United Methodists. He conducts worship, but in a nontraditional way. 
He helps lead a "blue jeans" worship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays in the 
Christian Ministry Center, next door to Lead United Methodist 
Church.

	As coordinator of the Jail Ministries for the Lead-Deadwood 
Ministerial Association, Agan organizes a Sunday afternoon jail 
service. A nursing home ministry involving youth is a more 
traditional part of his work.  

	Since becoming known throughout the Deadwood gaming community, he 
has done weddings and even a funeral. However, unlike the original 
Pastor Smith, his work is on the streets and at the tables in 
Deadwood. He hosts a discussion group at the Deadwood United 
Methodist Church offices in the former parsonage at 5:30 p.m. on 
Mondays.  

	"We tried the worship thing but that didn't fly, and somebody 
suggested discussion," he said. "Right now we're reading chapters in 
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff -- very low key, non-threatening."  

	Agan calls this a backdoor approach because it attracts folks who 
reject organized religion but are interested in sharing ideas about 
making life work.

	At 7 p.m. the same day, a group called "Wounded Healers" offers 
support for people with addictive problems.  

	"I'm sure there's someone out there with only one addiction, but 
I've never met him," Agan said. "If someone's compulsive about 
gambling, well over 90 percent will have multiple compulsive problems 
like alcohol, anger, excessive eating or other addictive behaviors." 
He believes the church must help address the root of the problem 
rather than the manifestation.

	People in the gaming industry often feel cut off from the church, 
Agan said. As shift workers, their schedules don't match usual church 
activities. Because of the stand of the church against the gaming 
industry, they may feel alienated.  

	"I think people in this industry have sometimes been hurt by the 
institutional church and do not feel welcome now," he explained. "So 
many people work in these establishments because it's the best 
opportunity they have to make money. Someone going through a divorce, 
or a single mother, for example, makes much more working in gaming or 
in a bar than as a secretary or a clerk. Now those people feel they'd 
be unwelcome in churches."

	Agan said he has received strong support and encouragement from area 
churches. "I don't think the church wants these people to feel 
unwelcome; I know they'd be welcomed."

	Being where people are, whatever the time, is key to Agan's ministry 
of presence.  

	"I have always felt comfortable with people where they are," he 
said. "I don't try to wear my faith like a red badge of courage, but 
I'm not ashamed of it either." 

	Agan has been asked, "Are you Poker Steve or Preacher Steve?"

	"I had to be both," he said. "I would in no way encourage another 
minister to do this. I am comfortable with it. I don't see the evil 
in the cards; I see the evil in the addiction. There's a void, and 
what's missing is God."

	-- end --

*Dakotas Connection/Living Waters is the newspaper of the
Dakotas Area of the United Methodist Church.

Disciples News Service releases 
are available at http://www.disciples.org/dns/index.htm