While growing up in the Episcopal Church, I came to value the comfort of its consistency and the beauty of its language. On summer mornings, I attended my grandparents’ small parish in Kings Mountain, NC. It was there that I felt most at home. The familiar hymns, gracious people, and scents of candlewax and wood polish all provided a warm and rich environment for my brothers and me. My grandmother had been a flapper and a socialite in the 1920s, but dedicated her later life to serving the ill and the hungry of her county as its director of social services. I learned much about graciousness and compassion from observing her. My grandfather served as a flier in the Marine Corps during World War I, and I felt proud and secure standing next to him in the pew. I marveled at how he sang along to every hymn without ever opening the hymnal. Later, as a prep school student in New England, memories of quintessentially Southern summer Sundays brought me inner strength and stability. Life in the Episcopal church had grounded and prepared me for independence and success.
During college, I spent my junior year studying art history and French literature in France. The bells of a nearby Catholic church rang on Sundays, beckoning me. After traveling a short distance by foot to mass along the winding, hilly sidewalks of Montpellier’s centre-ville, I joined other worshippers in the singing of French hymns and praying of French prayers. Only when it came to the Lord’s Prayer did I quietly revert to my native language. What a unique experience it was to practice my faith in an entirely new setting. I was reminded of Christianity’s far-reaching and ancient traditions, and of the oneness of Christians everywhere. My senior thesis examined the role of the father in Francophone-African literature. I enjoyed elaborating on the presence of both human and divine father figures as represented therein.
After college, I worked as a translator in Washington, DC., where I lived within walking distance of the National Cathedral. Despite the complexity of its architecture and the vastness of its size, the building enveloped me like a familiar place. I soon married and raised our family in an Episcopal church in Memphis, while teaching French in my sons’ PK-8th-grade school. At church, my children sang in choirs, served as acolytes, and made lifelong friends through EYC and church camp. As teens, they developed independence, little by little, as caring mentors watched over them. I devoted my free time to serving the church as a lay healing minister, a lay eucharistic visitor, a member of the pastoral care team, and a teacher in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.
When my children had grown, I left classroom teaching and began working as a part-time education specialist in a school for those with learning differences and health concerns. My job was to create an individualized teaching approach to meet the needs of each student. I worked with middle and high schoolers, primarily in reading, math, and foreign languages. I also volunteered as the pastoral care coordinator in a nearby parish. I completed Sewanee’s Education for Ministry program alongside some of the best people I know. I volunteered as the board secretary at the Episcopal retreat center and supported its programs for children and youth. Eventually, I discerned a calling to combine my two passions: working with children and families and furthering the mission of the Episcopal church. I began a job search. All seemed clear to me at that time. I wanted to find a way to devote all my time and energy to serving the church that I have loved for 58 years and to put my skills to use in helping children and families grow in their Christian faith.
Today, my time is spent working in full-time lay ministry with children and families while studying theology at the graduate level, with my academic focus on religious education and formation planning. What pivotal experiences has your life in the Episcopal Church included? What has surprised you about your journey? And where is God calling you to serve?
Dear Jocelyn, I loved reading your story of faith! You are a most qualified teacher and a loving example for those whose lives touch yours. God Bless You!
Thank you, Linda, for reading and for replying with your kind words!
I enjoyed ‘getting to know you.’ I too have been shaped and carried (sometimes under protest) by the Episcopal church and I am daily more grateful and comforted.
Thank you, Nancy. I appreciate your comments and am glad to know you, as well!