Ministry In and Through St. Martin’s
St. Paul’s has had a partnership with St. Martin’s, the Episcopal Center at the University of Arkansas, for a long time. I do not know the whole history, but I have heard several stories from long-time parishioners about the way they were introduced to The Episcopal Church through campus ministry. While at times there have been dedicated chaplains at St. Martin’s, the clergy and staff have overlapped frequently, and, since I have been in Fayetteville, I have enjoyed supporting ministry on campus in various ways.
With the retirement of our former bishop and the election of his successor, ministry at St. Martin’s has been at the front of my mind for the last twelve months. Bishop Benfield, a former college chaplain himself, believed strongly in the importance of an Episcopal presence at our state’s flagship university. Also, as he was preparing to leave his role as bishop, he did not want to tie the hands of our next bishop by making any drastic changes to the diocese’s relationship with St. Martin’s. As he expected, the person elected, Bishop Harmon, remains committed to college ministry, and I believe that we have chosen a bishop whose leadership will guide St. Martin’s into long-term sustainability.
After several conversations with Bishop Harmon and some committed volunteers from St. Paul’s who have a relationship with the university center, the bishop and I have agreed to transfer primary leadership for college ministry at St. Martin’s to St. Paul’s. Effectively, with the exception of the 2023-24 academic year, when the Rev. Casey Anderson-Molina served as a full-time chaplain, that has been the case for several years. Although the diocese has continued to support St. Martin’s financially and with the upkeep of the facility, St. Paul’s clergy, staff, and volunteers have overseen ministry at St. Martin’s, including the supervision of its dedicated staff.
Still, this transition represents a considerable change and a great opportunity for ministry in both places. Not long after I arrived at St. Paul’s, back when Samantha Clare was the half-time chaplain at St. Martin’s and the half-time young adult minister at St. Paul’s, I discovered informally that the diocese was counting on us to manage that ministry. As the vestry began to prepare a budget for the coming year, I called the bishop to ask what he wanted the part of Samantha’s stipend that was for her ministry at St. Martin’s to be. He replied something to the effect of, “I trust you to figure that out. Just keep me and the diocese informed about that ministry and let us know what you think the ministry needs to be effective.”
While I appreciated the freedom that came with that invitation, it also came with a lack of clarity. To what extent was St. Paul’s responsible for what happened at St. Martin’s, and to what extent were we serving as an intermediary on behalf of the diocese? In the years that followed, as Samantha became the full-time Director of Christian Formation at St. Paul’s and the Rev. Adelyn Tyler-Williams was called to serve as the half-time chaplain and half-time curate, our parish continued to operate St. Martin’s but always with an understanding that we were doing so on behalf of the bishop’s office. Any long-term vision, therefore, still needed to come from Little Rock.
I am delighted to say that, while we will still look to our bishop for visionary leadership, particularly with regard to campus ministry, this newly defined arrangement allows us to assume full responsibility for the operations of St. Martin’s. Although the property continues to belong to the diocese, which means that any improvements to the facility will need to go through the bishop’s office, the day-to-day operations and the long-term strategy for college ministry are now clearly our responsibility. And I think that is good news for both communities.
Rather than duplicate our offerings, we can share them. For example, while some members of the university community prefer to seek spiritual fulfillment exclusively on campus at St. Martin’s, plenty find the sacramental life of St. Paul’s to be essential to the practice of their faith. You may have noticed back in August that lots of new people began showing up at St. Paul’s on Sunday mornings. Many of them are students at the university who have already started coming to St. Paul’s. There are plenty more, however, who may find a small-group fellowship with other undergraduate and graduate students, which that St. Martin’s can offer, more attractive. Instead of trying to split opportunities for worship, formation, community life, pastoral care, and community engagement between the two locations, we can design offerings that draw people to both without competing with ourselves.
If that sounds exciting but daunting, I feel the same way. There is much to be done, and it is hard to know where to begin. The good news is that we are not starting from scratch. The partnership between St. Martin’s and St. Paul’s has been fruitful over the years. This new arrangement allows us to build upon that and expand our offerings.
Also, I am delighted that Gus McLellan, a member of St. Paul’s and St. Martin’s, has agreed to serve as a Peer Coordinator for this ministry. As a part-time member of our parish staff, she will help St. Paul’s stay in touch with students, create weekly opportunities for community building and worship, and share any pastoral concerns that come up with our clergy. She will help us know how to use the resources of St. Paul’s to help meet the diverse and complex spiritual needs of the St. Martin’s community, and that will, in turn, help us become a better, fuller manifestation of the Body of Christ.
In the months ahead, there will be much for us to do and to learn. Bishop Harmon has asked St. Paul’s to become a model for diocesan-supported, parish-based college ministry that he can replicate throughout the diocese. We also need to figure out how volunteers can support our ministry at St. Martin’s so that, like our children and youth programs, our ministry to the college community can be fully integrated into the life of St. Paul’s. Please keep an eye out for invitations to participate in those ministries by providing a home-cooked meal for college students, helping reorganize and clean out St. Martin’s, and welcoming members of the university community into our church.
As a product of college chaplaincy, I am grateful for the trust that the bishop is showing our parish, and I am confident that we will honor that trust by pursuing a vibrant ministry. I look forward to the ways in which this renewed and deepened partnership will bear fruit in the years ahead.
Yours faithfully,
Evan D. Garner
