He's Poker Steve and Preacher Steve to Deadwood's gaming community
8/24/1998 NOTE: This story is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS #498. A photograph is available. By Donna Fisher* You can find 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 him 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. Named for the Methodist circuit rider who came to Deadwood in the earliest days of the Gold Rush, the mission to the community's gaming community is funded by a grant from the Parish and Community Development funds of the United Methodist Church's Dakotas Conference.
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 Disciples of Christ Church and educated at a Southern Baptist seminary, 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."
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*Fisher is editor of Dakotas Connection/Living Waters, newspaper of the Dakotas Area of the United Methodist Church.
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