Stories Calling Us Forward

I serve as a deacon at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Anchorage, Alaska. St. Mary’s is a vibrant and growing faith community of more than 600 members, active throughout the Municipality of Anchorage. Our congregation has a particular passion for service and social justice, and we are not shy about being a place of radical welcome for all people.

One of the things I love most about congregational life is the way it is intentionally intergenerational, seeking to love and serve God through the highs and lows of life—and everything in between.

In our society today, we tend to separate ourselves by age, stage of life, and interests. Congregational ministry, when it’s working well, intentionally brings together all ages and stages, recognizing that God is present with each of us across the span of our lives.

I am a fiction writer by training, and I love the way storytelling plays out in congregational life—through preaching, through the sharing of prayer and sacraments, and through intentionally walking with one another in the holy stories and big questions that arise in our lives. Walking alongside a congregation through moments of joy, fear, and even deep grief is a privilege: seeking God in all things, and participating in the work of justice for the community and for creation.

The faculty at VST instilled in me a deep commitment to academic life balanced with the understanding that ministry rarely unfolds like a well-structured textbook. Much of congregational ministry involves juggling theology and reality, and the VST faculty has kept this balance top of mind. Without exception, they hold high academic standards while offering a pastoral presence that supports those of us preparing for congregational ministry.

VST’s commitment to faith in action has been vital to my own approach to ministry. I continue to learn from books and courses, and yet the faculty emphasizes—through the TFE program and liturgical courses—how much real-life skills and experiences shape our formation and ultimately inform the work we do in our faith communities.

Over the past few months in my congregation, we’ve seen a notable increase in newcomers. Many of them have little prior church experience. Yet they are eager to become part of a community that seeks to connect and serve—and they are curious about what it means to discern God’s presence in their lives.

I am passionate about making church accessible and relatable to newcomers and to the wider world. Jesus did not believe in boundaries between people and places; his message of love and service was for everyone, not just church insiders.

Congregational ministry works best when it’s hard to tell where the church ends and the world begins—because then, and especially then, we can better discern God’s love in our neighborhoods, in our lives, and in the work we carry out together.

There is a great hunger in our world for meaningful ways to gather in community. At its best, congregational ministry provides space to come together across generations and life experiences—in both good and difficult times—to connect with God and with one another. It is a privilege and a challenge to serve in this space, where there is both deep longing and abundant evidence of God’s presence and love among us.

To have the opportunity to welcome new life through baptism, to celebrate and honor lives through funerals, and to share in all the moments in between is one of the great wonders of congregational ministry. It is an honor to be present in those spaces, to share in sacramental life, and to walk alongside one another in faith.

Hannah Moderow is a deacon at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Anchorage, Alaska, on the traditional lands of the Dena’ina People. A fiction writer by training, she previously worked for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and is the author of Lily’s Mountain (2017). A 2025 Chancellor’s Scholar at VST, her studies strengthened her commitment to Scriptural engagement, liturgical storytelling, and inclusive, intergenerational ministry. Hannah plans on convocating in the Spring of 2026.