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Robin Ross Smith

smith_robin.jpgWhen Robin Smith first arrived at Chatham College (now University) in 1985, she wasn’t looking for Christian fellowship. She was looking to explore “the fullness of college life.” But a couple months into her first year, Robin was invited to the CCO fellowship at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, which attracted students from Chatham and nearby Carnegie Mellon University, and she stayed involved for the rest of her time in school, as a participant and as a student leader.

“I came to college with the idea that faith was a feeling and you didn’t need to engage your mind too deeply,” says Robin. “The CCO taught me that I didn’t have to throw away the intellectual in order to follow God.”

The CCO-sponsored Jubilee conference was especially influential in Robin’s life. “I had created a distinction in my mind between ‘Christian work’ and ‘secular work,’ and Jubilee helped to heal those divisions for me and give me a more holistic worldview. It was powerful and exciting to hear from people who were trying to work out their faith in the marketplace.”

Today, Robin has become a concrete example of a person living out her faith through her vocation.

“All areas of my life have been profoundly shaped by the ministry of the CCO. Because of the CCO’s influence, I have a holistic view of the world. Because the CCO taught me that God is in charge of every inch of creation, I choose to worship in church bodies that share that holistic vision. We’ve decided to send our children to a school where the curriculum encourages them to explore all of God’s world and find their place in it.”

Robin works with the Urban Institute, a think tank that puts her degree in political science and economics to practical use. “My research is in housing and community development. I’ve stayed satisfied and want to continue working here 20 years later because I can make a difference. I have an opportunity to explore ways to right wrongs and bring justice to the social and economic challenges that individuals and institutions face.”

Robin and her husband, DJ, are raising their two daughters in a culturally-diverse neighborhood in Falls Church, Virginia. They are members of The Falls Church, where Robin has taught Sunday school and participated in the women’s ministry, and where Robin and DJ are part of a small group.

“The CCO convinced me that living a holistic life for Christ is what God created us to experience. Because that vision resonated and took hold of me then, I’ve tried to live in a way that is consistent with that ever since. DJ and I want to instill that vision in our children. We want to educate them about the way life ought to be, and we try our best to live that way.”