I never thought that I was straight. I didn’t even know what straight was until middle school, when I first heard the definition and shrugged thinking, “Well, that’s not me.”

It was disappointing to discover soon after that very few people appreciated the other identities I should have been able to try. I refrained from labeling myself and ended up gray and depressed, with no real label but my own name.

I didn’t know who I was at the time. I didn’t like boys like I was supposed to. I didn’t dress like girls should – in fact, I had breakdowns and cried in dressing rooms trying on feminine clothes – I felt like they took off a layer of skin every time I pulled them on and off, leaving my flaws more naked and exposed than before.

My parents hated each other, and me. My house burned down with me inside. I was in two car crashes.

I had a crisis of faith – I went through my church’s confirmation program, but when the time came to write my public statement of faith, I couldn’t make myself say I believed in God like they wanted me too. Instead, I wrote something along the lines of, “I don’t believe in God, but I’d like to. I need to look into it more.”

I got too many conflicting, oversimplified messages about the person I was supposed to be, and thus what my faith was supposed to look like. Women weren’t to be trusted, I was told the bible said. The bible also said that women loved and married men, and then had several children, were quiet and demure their whole lives, and deserved punishment for just about everything they did. Jesus and the whole lot of Disciples and everyone else in the bible were white, like the preacher with the bleached smile and sprawling estate my mother watched on tv every night.

I was always a really skeptical kid, I didn’t believe what I was told.

I first read the bible one summer at a church camp for middle schoolers. I didn’t get what a lot of it was saying, there were a bunch of lists of old dead guys, but I didn’t see anything to back up the version of God everyone was trying to sell me.

I know today that what really kept me from publicly committing to God was the fact that my faith communities did not acknowledge the entire church body, only the white, middle-upper class, cisgender, heterosexual, male, quote-unquote “normal” bits of it. I didn’t fit all of those categories, so I thought that God didn’t want me. I thought that God was all of those things, and only those things, so I didn’t want God either.

In late high school I chose the label pansexual for myself. Pan means all, as in I love all genders, because gender doesn’t factor into whether or not I fall in love with someone.

A weight was lifted off my shoulders then. I recalled how much I had longed to discover faith and slowly but surely gave God another shot, one passage, online article, and introspection at a time.

This time I knew that God wasn’t homophobic, or white, or middle-upper class, or anything else.

As in the passage I read, God made us to love. I fulfill God’s intentions for me when I love myself, my neighbors, and my global community. Coming out to myself as pansexual was an act of faith and of love.

I kicked down the closet door and God was waiting for me on the other side!

This is the passage I hope guardians, best friends, significant others, and entire communities remember on today, National Coming Out Day.

It’s also the passage I hope I remember today and every day.

The post National Coming Out Day: Andy Anderson appeared first on Campus Ministry.

The deacons will work together to plan and execute events and activities that create opportunities for social connectedness, spiritual growth, and loving service. In addition, they empower and equip other student-leaders in the shared work of radical hospitality, creating space for the sacred, and shaping the community in positives ways with other student groups and leaders on campus.��

I asked the deacons a few questions so that you might get to know them a bit more even as you discern how you might partner in this ministry we share! So, without further ado, meet our Campus Ministry deacons:

Hannah Thiry

What is your hometown? What year are you and what are you studying here at Augsburg?

I’m a junior from Cambridge, MN; Biology major; Religion and Psychology minors

What is your favorite color? Food? Season of the year?

Color: Gray! (Yes, it’s a color, not a shade) Food: Cereal- all kinds! Must be soggy! Season: Fall -it’s all about the leaves:)

What do you love about Augsburg?

The philosophical discussions that randomly occur at the most inconvenient times, but end up being the best and most meaningful interactions within the Augsburg community.

What would you say was a moment of a spiritual high for you?

Singing ‘Grace Like Rain’ at my favorite outdoor worship area at my camp in the Rocky Mountains.

What are you looking forward to this year as you serve as a Campus Ministry Deacon?

Learning and engaging with people devoted to the service of the church, and seeing how my gifts fit best to facilitate an impactful and purposeful environment.

Favorite book or verse of the Bible, and why?

John 15:13 ��Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.��– It’s the largest service one person can give to another. This portrays a selfless lifestyle; one devoted to bettering the lives of others, which serves as my inspiration.

Joe Kempf

What is your hometown? What year are you and what are you studying here at Augsburg?

I’m a senior from Zumbrota, MN. Major: Chemistry.

What is your favorite color? Food? Season of the year?

Favorite Color: Orange Pollen; Food: Mac and Cheese has been my favorite for almost 20 years; Fall – the leaves are crisp and everything is colorful

What do you love about Augsburg?

I love that people are so involved at Augsburg, students seem ready to leave their comfortable dorm to engage the surrounding communities and truly meet Augsburg’s neighbors.

What would you say was a moment of a spiritual high for you?

The last time I had a spiritual high was when I was studying abroad in El Salvador in January. I was in the National Cathedral in San Salvador. As I walked inside the main sanctuary, the high ceilings and the echoes made me feel something. At the time I mistook it for a ‘God Moment’. The real ‘God Moment’ would come when I walked into the basement. While the upstairs sanctuary was loud and echoed of talking and maybe humming, the downstairs contained the tomb of Monsignor Oscar Romero. Oscar Romero was a genuine saint to Salvadoran people during their horrific civil war. He is currently being canonized to be a saint. He was assassinated while serving Communion. Recently, the Catholic Church exhumed his body from the main sanctuary and placed him in the basement, almost hiding him in the basement instead of disturbing the sanctuary. This downstairs worship area was hushed, not because it was empty, but because there was a tangible holiness to the area. Time stopped. I think about that moment a lot.

What are you looking forward to this year as you serve as a Campus Ministry Deacon?

I am looking forward to meeting new people and helping campus ministry become a larger community.

Favorite book or verse of the Bible, and why?

My favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. For me, this book is honest about the seasons of life and letting ‘the cards lay as they do’. It teaches to live in the moment, something I strive to do always.

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Vision Bagonza

What is your hometown? What year are you and what are you studying here at Augsburg?

I am a junior from Karagwe, Kagera, Tanzania. A Biology major with a Chemistry minor.

What is your favorite color? Food? Season of the year?

NAVY BLUE and gold. I have many favorites foods, including naan bread and tikka masala. Definitely autumn!

What do you love about Augsburg?

I love that people are so involved at Augsburg, students seem ready to leave their comfortable dorm to engage the surrounding communities and truly meet Augsburg’s neighbors.

What would you say was a moment of a spiritual high for you?

I love how kind people are here, and how connected everyone is to everything, be it faith, current events, and their own passions. I also have come to really appreciate the opportunities I’ve gotten while here, in my field of science and in service learning. I also appreciate the kind of people that come to Augsburg. Very organic. Oh, and the location is golden, or Platinum (PT) for public transportation as my professor once put it.

What are you looking forward to this year as you serve as a Campus Ministry Deacon?

Hoping to help more people find Campus Ministry, and having collaborations with other student organizations to leave more footprints on campus.

Favorite book or verse of the Bible, and why?

Again, I have many favorites. But here’s one and here’s why:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” Psalms 46:1

This verse is part of the Swahili liturgy for mass, and I always loved singing it. I think it beautifully describes why God is God, and why we need Him.

David Erickson

What is your hometown? What year are you and what are you studying here at Augsburg?

I’m a sophomore from South St. Paul, MN. Major: Music Education with a choral emphasis.

What is your favorite color? Food? Season of the year?

Teal. Gluten free pizza. Fall.

What do you love about Augsburg?

How small it is, and how much everyone genuinely cares about the people in our community.

What would you say was a moment of a spiritual high for you?

Any time I’m at camp, or doing anything outside or with music.
What are you looking forward to this year as you serve as a Campus Ministry Deacon?

I’m really looking forward to getting to know everyone, and to share in community with them! I’m also looking forward to helping us grow, and welcome more people into worship and fellowship.

Favorite book or verse of the Bible, and why?

This is a tough one. Favorite verse: Micah 6:8, very good words to live by!

Favorite book: Psalms. As a music major, I find it fascinating to look at how the psalms were written, and how they’re set to music, and how the rhyme scheme words and everything.

Jon Bates

What is your hometown? What year are you and what are you studying here at Augsburg?

I’m a fifth-year (graduate in December) from Shoreview, MN. Major: Youth and Family Ministry

What is your favorite color? Food? Season of the year?

Dark blue/gray. Large fry from Burger King. First two weeks of winter.

What do you love about Augsburg?

I love how Augsburg College lives up to it’s mission statement by the college educating their students in being informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. I’ve seen the statement lived out within the classroom setting, in conversation with professors, and through extracurricular opportunities.

What would you say was a moment of a spiritual high for you?

At Augsburg College: The Ash Wednesday Night Communion Service this previous year was a soul-stirring experience with the staff and friends in that holy space.
What are you looking forward to this year as you serve as a Campus Ministry Deacon?

I’m looking forward to continuing my service with the students until my college career comes to an end. It has been humbling to notice the way that life of the campus ministry at Augsburg College exists.

Favorite book or verse of the Bible, and why?

Genesis is my favorite book of the Bible, mainly focusing on the stories of creation. Every time I read them, I seem to notice something different or even recognize that a word has a different emphasis or flow in the text. And it is mainly through this book that I recognize how alive the words are.

The post Meet the Campus Ministry Deacons – A message from Pastor Justin Lind-Ayres appeared first on Campus Ministry.