Off to Roanoke

Stephen R. Stanley, Associate for Campus Ministry

Dear Parishioners,

I am writing my last CrossRoads article at a crossroads in my life, here in the chapel of the Cleveland International Airport. At this writing, I am returning from this year's tumultuous General Convention to a church that stands at the crossroads as well. God and Southwest Airlines have granted me a three-hour layover here, with time to pray and ponder about my new call to Christ Church, Roanoke, which I accepted last week. This airport interlude gives me a chance to pray, ponder, and remember the most productive and fulfilling years of my life, those spent with you in Chapel Hill.

I have a picture of myself (just beginning to gray) with Jackie and our kindergarten-bound Brian, taken at our first parish barbeque in 1990. That was also a crossroads time, a new decade, one that would end the 20th century and see so many changes in the world, the church, and our lives. It was a time before the campus center and other parish renovations; before there was church email and internet; before the sister parish relationship, the Cross of Nails community, the Johnson Intern Program; before taking pilgrimages and mission trips with students to Coventry, Canterbury, Costa Rica, Barbados, South Africa, and Ashe County. That barbeque day came before Kerygma and unnumbered Inquirers' Classes, forums, and campus seminars. At that time, there was not yet a Campus Minister's Association, or a 150th Anniversary Celebration, or a Three Bishops' Forum. There was not an embezzlement, or a broken shoulder, or Jackie's cancer, or Brian's chest surgery, or Hurricane Fran, and no one dreamed that 9/11 would be more than another September day. No one could have predicted that three (count 'em) Carolina basketball coaches would be retired in 13 years, as well as two diocesan bishops and two U.S. presidents. We could not have forecast the first African-American bishop in the South or the first openly gay bishop elected in the Church. We did not know if Y2K would bring an apocalyptic end to the century, or if Michael Jordan's retirement would bring a similar end to pro basketball as we know it.

But what did we know on that first barbeque day? We Stanleys knew that we had been unexpectedly called from a small parish in Gastonia to one of the great parishes and campus ministries of the Church. We knew that our rector had chosen us and entrusted our life and ministry into your care, as well as his own. We already knew that worship would stand at the center of it all. We knew that we would learn and grow and love and be loved in ways we could not have imagined. When I began, one elder of the diocese called me the “new campus boy.” Well, I am not “new” as I approach 54, and have become an “old boy” as you can see. But I hope that you can see that you have offered this “old campus boy” your best and you have challenged and inspired me to offer mine, in good times and in bad. We have been a family together in God's home, and no words can express our loss in saying goodbye to such incredible parishioners, students, and community friends. But we follow the One who called us all here. Here we have no permanent home, as scripture reminds. Our home is the journey with Christ, and He has blessed us in His present as well as His continuing call. Now it's an upward call to the Appalachian High Country, to which I bade farewell over 25 years ago. Christ Church, Roanoke. has a long history too and will challenge me in leading its community outreach and adult education and in serving its rector, Deborah Hunley (one of the first women ordained in 1977). I will be Christ Church's Associate Rector and serve Bishop Powell in some duties in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia as well. Jackie will continue in education and community service. Brian will begin some special studies in graphics and animation. We will be only two and a half hours away, but in many ways, our hearts will remain here.

My prayer for you all is that you will treasure your life and ministry here as we have treasured our own. This is a parish that deserves such devotion. May God grant us the grace to “continue in the holy fellowship and do all such good works as He has prepared for us to walk in.” Pray for us, and keep our blessed Episcopal campus ministry students always in your hearts. As I 'graduate' from Chapel Hill after 13 years and prepare for my last parish barbeque, I know that I have learned the lessons of God's service and have been richly fed and loved in the faces and embraces of our students and all of you. Now it's time to board my next flight on my long journey home. Let us thank God for all that has served His will and will serve Him still in the crossroads yet to come.

Peace and Godspeed,

Stephen+ (Jackie and Brian) Stanley