TLDR: My next call was both a joy and a surprise.
When the position as Interim Campus Missioner to Rice University - Autry house came open, it really was a dream come true. I just did not know that I had the dream! My experience of Campus Missioners was that they were all very intellectual and cool. Those are not words that I would use to describe myself. Rice University is a particularly academic community, and I am more pastoral.
Part of the ministry includes serving students food at least twice a week. This fits perfectly with how I have encountered Christ from an early age. When I was younger, my family gatherings always included enough food to serve an army. As a college student, our Campus Minister gave us delicious dinners and snacks galore. When I was a Director of Youth Ministry, I served food and engaged in table fellowship as a consistent part of my ministry. I began to see that this opportunity was a bit of a full circle moment for me, and I could not be more excited to serve in this way.
At this curacy, all of you have trained me to exegete texts, to listen to others, and stretch myself. As such, when searching for a call, I was able to have a wide net of possible positions. The curates at St. Dunstan’s are trained so well that many positions are possible.
During the search process, my family and I prayed for the right call for all of us. I love to serve in the church and enjoy working with people of all ages. A great blessing for me is to be able to go out into the community to shape the church and evangelize (sometimes even using words). As many of you know, I love having lunch, Starbucks, meeting for a walk, talking over dinner, etc. Therefore, I tried to look for positions where I felt I could be called to be out in the community bringing church to others. Additionally, one of my greatest joys is being able to walk with individuals on their faith journey. These last two aspects of ministry are a large part of the call for campus ministry: to meet students where they are on their walk with Christ and help them grow into their relationship.
Fr. Roman has always supported my role as a mother; recently he encouraged me to attend a Transitional Kindergarten Graduation instead of vestry, because he knew that I had missed several of the previous events for Faith. St. Dunstan’s is a busy church, which is why we are consistently growing. Fr. Roman works very hard doing pastoral visits, researching, writing, and connecting to the diocese. Over the past two years, I have been supported by a husband to take over some of that and (hopefully) ease Fr. Roman’s burden. It is time with the training that I received from all of you, that I go forward and serve in a different place.
Every minute I spend here is a blessing. I have learned how to serve with passion and grace during this time. Going forward, I will miss all of you greatly, Yet I know your next curate is able to take up the torch in new and exciting ways.
For His Sake,
Mtr. Beth Anne +
