January 21, 2009
By Susan Hanson

James Boyer, a junior social work major at Prairie View A&M University, admitted that he was wary of attending Gather, the national Episcopal student conference that was held December 28, 2008-January 1, 2009 in Estes Park, Colorado. "I really didn't want to go," he said in an interview.

Not only had Boyer never been out of his home state of Texas, but he was anxious about being in the midst of what he assumed would be a crowd of white people. Being in the minority, said Boyer, an African-American student from Houston, often made him defensive, even confrontational. "But I've realized that it's because of me," he said, describing the conference and the insight it brought him as "life-changing."

Held once every four years at the Y.M.C.A. of the Rockies, Gather gives Episcopal students from around the country an opportunity to worship together, explore their faith, and learn from one another. "We had people from everywhere," Boyer said of the 133 participants, "and they all brought different opinions."

This diversity is also one of the qualities that Doug Hexel, a junior at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York majoring in constitutional law, found rewarding about the event. "The main thing I got out of it is an understanding of other viewpoints on religion and politics." Another highlight for Hexel was the workshop on "spiritual leadership" conducted by the Rev. Shirley Bowen, chaplain at the University of Southern Maine. "We learn so much about leading militarily and socially, but not spiritually," said Hexel.

Like Boyer, Hexel came close to missing the conference, but for a different reason. He says he learned about the event when the Rev. Douglas Fenton, national staff officer for Young Adult and Campus Ministries, spoke to his Episcopal student group in early December. "Father Fenton said this was a great opportunity to meet with other Episcopal students and student leaders."

Hexel was ready to sign up, but one thing stood in his way: Where would he find the money to go? "I went through channels to get funding, but it wasn't available," he explains. "Then I got an e-mail from Bishop [George] Packard, [Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, including those in the armed forces]. He told me that if I was having trouble with travel money, he'd take care of it."

What Hexel brought home, he said, is not only a host of new friendships and connections, but also a desire to work more closely with other campus ministries in the northeast.

Echoing Hexel's remarks, Gather participant Kimberly Brown stated, "We got an idea of the whole church." She and fellow Prairie View A&M graduate students Andrea McDonald and Everton Brown also got an idea for a service project they plan to implement when they return to their campuses – a program to assist school children in the trio's home country of Jamaica. Their first step, Everton Brown explained, will be to write a grant for the $2,000 he estimates it will take to get the project started.

This desire to serve, coupled with a renewed energy and a sense of being part of a larger body, is the thread that runs through conversations with the students attending Gather. For Andrea de la Torre, a student at Sacramento College and recent participant in the church's Short-Term Domestic Internship Program, an eight-week-long mission experience for young adults, this translates into going home with a greater appreciation for the varieties of ministry, both lay and ordained. She credits speaker Michael Battle, canon theologian at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul in the Diocese of Los Angeles, with reminding her how diverse the options for service really are, and how important it is to be with others who have different ways of thinking and seeing the world.

For Everton Brown, a doctoral student in criminal justice, Gather is "a way to enhance the sustainability of the church," as well as an experience of "being in the family of Episcopalians."

"I don't want to see this [event] go away," he said, adding that he hopes to continue to support campus ministry even after he graduates.

Episcopal Life
Susan Hanson is communications officer for Province 7 of the Episcopal Church.