Recordpub.com - Pastor sacrifices for ministry Former firefighter gives up job for inner-city church

By Mike Hixenbaugh

Record-Courier staff writer

Sometimes the sirens shake him from his sleep. The sound, which most people associate with fire, triggers something entirely different in The Rev. Duane Crabbs.

He can still hear the cries for help, the warm blaze against his skin. When those sirens blare at night, his pulse quickens. After all, the sirens are a part of who he is -- it's in his blood.

While working as a firefighter-paramedic for 13 years, Crabbs climbed the ranks and had become one of Akron's finest by 1999.

But after 13 years, he walked away.

"Yeah, sometimes I miss it," Crabbs says, staring into the distance. "When I hear those sirens, sometimes I wish I could get back on that truck -- wheels rolling, dressed in a hero suit. Yeah, I miss that."

Crabbs pauses. He brings his hand to his mouth, his face beginning to flush. Tears form in his eyes as his voice begins to crack.

"But I do not regret that I gave that up. I gave all that up ... for a more important thing."

Not many people thought it was logical when Crabbs moved his family of six from a comfortable area in West Akron to one of the city's most impoverished neighborhoods 10 years ago. Even fewer supported him when he quit his job two years later.

"It was definitely the right thing, though" Crabbs said.

The decision to move into the Summit Lake neighborhood of south Akron was inspired by an interaction Crabbs had with a young occupant of the city more than 14 years ago. After a short conversation with the boy, Crabbs discovered the child didn't know what the word "wife" meant.

"At that moment, I knew what we had to do," Crabbs said. "I began to see that church, the way we do it, is more about us and our comfort than it is about helping those outside the walls of the church. In that church pew, I began to realize that the only way to have a real impact is to go out and live among them."

After a few years of deliberation, Crabbs, along with his wife Lisa and four children, moved into a house at the heart of the crime-ridden neighborhood.

It took years for the family to fully adjust. Despite the heartache, a ministry formed in the Crabbs home. Bible studies of more than 50 community members became a weekly occurrence. Within two years, the number had doubled to 100.

"And that's when I began to feel burned out," Duane said. "I would come home from long shifts at the fire department and then either work with the ministry or as a father. Soon I realized I wasn't a good dad. I wasn't a good husband. I also wasn't a good paramedic or a very good minister.

"Something had to give, and it wasn't going to be the ministry or my family."

It was a process of elimination. After 13 years, Crabbs quit his dream job and gave up his $50,000 salary, replacing it with nothing.

With a wife and four children, Crabbs did what most would deem completely irresponsible.

"It was irresponsible," Crabbs said. "But my wife supported me, and my community supported me and I knew it was what I had to do. I guess sometimes being irresponsible is exactly what we need to do."

With that relentless faith, Duane and Lisa Crabbs have built South Street Ministries -- an outreach that touches its community through various initiatives, including bar room ministries, an after school program and prison Bible studies.

Crabbs invites anyone interested in seeing church in a new light to visit South Street's Sunday service at noon. The service is held in the Summit Lake Community Center at 380 West Crosier St. in Akron.

"We're a church without walls," Crabbs explained. "Walls confine people. They segregate us. And that's why everything at South Street is so informal. Everyone -- no matter what issues you have -- everyone is welcome."