The Community of the Cross: A Place of Encounter with Jesus Christ for Prayer Equipping and Sending

The Community of the Cross is a ministry of PRMI and the location of the PRMI office. It is located on 24 acres of land in the mountains of Western North Carolina and it provides the spiritual support base for our involvement in the worldwide advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Programs are offered at the Community of the Cross throughout the year and led by members of the Dunamis Fellowship.

The Name “Community of the Cross”

In 1975, when I (Brad Long) first received the call from Jesus Christ to build this place of prayer, equipping and sending, I just called it “Jesus Abbey II in North Carolina”. I had no other name and also was very dependent on the model of Jesus Abbey to understand what it was that Jesus wanted. After going through the wilderness, however, I died to that name and actually to the vision. The Holy Spirit spoke a new name to my wife, Laura in 1979; it was “The Community of the Cross”. This was what we were told to pray into reality. “A place of Encounter with Jesus Christ” was added in the year 2000 when I was back at Jesus Abbey and the Lord clearly said that it was to be a “Place of Encounter with Jesus Christ for Prayer, Equipping, and Sending in the Power of the Holy Spirit."

As we have prayed about this and actually started to experience the fulfillment of this vision we have grown in appreciation of the name that the Holy Spirit gave.

Fahter Archer Torrey and his wife, Jane at Jesus Abbey, South Korea

The Greek word for "community" is "koinonia". It means a deep sharing that involves one’s total self. This is a fellowship of people bound together by a common commitment to one another in Jesus Christ and directed by the Holy Spirit toward the fulfillment of a common vision. It is out of community that one may most effectively experience the love and presence of God and take part in His work in the world.

"Of the Cross”

At the heart of our faith is the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Intercession, the form of prayer we are called to, is a form of cross-bearing.

Intercession calls us to stand in the gap, to enter the struggle as Jesus did on the Cross.

The focus on the Cross saves us from cheap grace and a prosperity gospel. It saves us from the New Age movement that see the way of salvation to be within ourselves.

• The Cross symbolizes the reconciliation between God and humanity and also between one another.

• The Cross is the symbol of Christian community: there is a vertical as well as horizontal dimension. These two dimensions while we are in the flesh must always be balanced and will always be in tension.

• The Cross is the way to resurrection and to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

As we die to ourselves then the life of God will be more and more manifested through us.

If we begin with resurrection we will never find the Cross.

If we start with the cross we will not deny the world, but embrace it and will receive the resurrection power to transform it.

• The Cross is the sign of love and shows us the nature of true Christ-centered love.

• The Cross also tells us of the pain and struggle that marks true Christian fellowship.

Living in community may become a type of cross. The work and the sacrifice that go with it certainly will be a cross.

“A Place of Encounter with Jesus Christ”

Our theology is Trinitarian and Reformed, affirming that there is one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We give praise and honor to each person of the Trinity. In the Bible, it is clear that we are to pray to God the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ in the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We have been called by the Father and the Son to make the Community of the Cross a place is dedicated to Jesus Christ. We are single-minded and passionate about our commitment to Jesus Christ. We affirm with Scripture that he is the Way, the Truth, the Life and the only way to God the Father. He is the only way of salvation for all humanity.

The COC is a place that has been set apart by God for encountering all He calls there with the love, power, grace and saving work of Jesus Christ. There is no magic about the place. It is the work of the Holy Spirit working through the natural beauty, the people and ministries of the place.