Men of the Cross

            It all started quite simply and humbly. One man, wearing one crucifix with another in his pocket, evangelizing to another, giving that man the cross in his pocket and inviting him to become a part of Men of the Cross. This was in 2016, and since then the Men of the Cross ministry from Nativity Church in Fargo has grown to over 25,000 members, from Fargo to as far away as Costa Rica, all of them reached through simple, one-on-one contact.
“This has truly been through the grace of God since we are ordinary men with no evangelization expertise or marketing skills,” said Bruce Dahl, a deacon assigned to Nativity Church and a spokesperson for the movement. “We are a low-tech organization with no website, no Facebook or Twitter account.  We evangelize the old-fashioned way of one-on-one evangelization. Our plan is to just show up and ask the Lord each day what he wants us to do and that has been the way we have developed the ministry.”
            The outward sign of the movement is the cross itself. The St. Benedict crucifix features not only the crucified Christ, but also the St. Benedict medal. The medal dates back a century in the Catholic Church and is a sacramental containing many symbols and prayers that can remind the faithful to hold fast against temptation. During his life, St. Benedict was known to work many miracles through the power of the Holy Cross. These miracles, attributed to St. Benedict, first struck in 1880. These miracles, along with St. Benedict’s devotion to Christ’s cross, led to the creation of the St. Benedict Medal.
            On the front of the crucifix, just above the crucified Christ, are the letters C.S.P.B., which in Latin means Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti, or Cross of the Holy Father Benedict. On the back of the crucifix is an image of St. Benedict holding a cross in his right hand and the rule he wrote for his monks in his left. To the right there is an image of the poisoned cup, which he was once given. On the other side of Benedict, a raven can be seen. This is because an enemy once sent him poisoned bread, but God sent a raven to take the loaf and fly off with it, thereby protecting Benedict from harm. Catholics believe wearing the medal will ward off Satan and his fallen angels. Those who carry the medallion with them reject all evil and look to St. Benedict for encouragement against evil.
                According to Deacon Dahl, The three pillars of the ministry are:

Relationship - Wearing the crucifix reminds us of the Lord’s presence with us always and encourages us to enter into dialogue with him throughout the day. This helps us to grow in our relationship with him.

Identity - As we grow in relationship, we grow in knowing our true identity as beloved sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Wearing a crucifix is a badge we wear to remind us of our identity.

Mission - Once we enter into a relationship with the Lord and learn our true identity, we can know our mission to share that love we have received with others. By wearing a crucifix in public, we are showing that we are not embarrassed to share our identity as Christians. This opens the door to conversations where we can share our love for the Lord with others and offer them a crucifix necklace to share in the ministry. Someone will never talk to a stranger about religion or politics, but if you are wearing a crucifix necklace you are telling others that it is all right to talk to you about religion.
           The ministry started out for men only, since men are the ones who seem to be afraid of wearing a crucifix. According to Deacon Dahl, men have no fear of wearing a jersey or a cap of their favorite athletic team but seem to be terrified of wearing a crucifix. After about five years, the Men of the Cross ministry had many women wanting a St. Benedict crucifix, so they decided to make crucifix necklaces for women as well. Deacon Dahl says they like women to wear the crucifix necklaces, but the ministry’s attention is still geared more toward men, whom he says seem to be the ones more afraid to wear a crucifix.
            The ministry has a group of volunteers—the crucifix assembly team—that meets at Nativity Church on the first Friday of each month after the 8 a.m. Mass. This team assembles about 600 crucifixes each month. However, at their meeting on April 5, they were able to assemble about 900 cross packets!
            “We are in the business of growing in love with Jesus and sharing that love with others,” said Deacon Dahl. “In the past eight years we have given out thousands of crucifixes without ever asking for a donation and in the last eight years we haven’t run out of crosses and haven’t run out of funds to purchase them. The Lord has been providing for us. We need to just trust him and ‘show up’ each day.”
            Deacon Dahl says he gets emails constantly about how the cross evangelization is reaching men and women all over the country and in other parts of the world. Many contain messages of encouragement to keep the ministry going, and that by wearing the crucifixes, they are inspired to testify to the truth of the Gospel by talking to others on an individual basis. If one receives a crucifix, they are encouraged to wear it always. They are also encouraged to ask for additional cross packets to hand out, so they always have one to give to someone else if the opportunity presents itself.
            “We encourage all men to become a member of the Men of the Cross ministry,” said Deacon Dahl. “There is no greater joy in life than to share Jesus with others, and that is what you do when you wear and share a crucifix.”
                Crucifixes may be obtained, with no set limit on how many, from Nativity Church in Fargo, or by email [email protected], or text or call (701) 371-1923.