Student Story: On the front lines of the pandemic
Junior Student
When I started working at HEB supermarket in December, the job offered me an opportunity to get back on my feet. I had spent months scraping the bottom of the barrel to make ends meet. The job was mostly focused on meeting our metric goals and making sure we knew our store inside and out. Then the COVID-19 panic began.
I could see the shortages sweep through our store every few days. First it was the surgical masks, then hand soap and sanitizer, then toilet paper, then the food.
Overnight our brand new curbside department went from fulfilling 30 orders a day to 200, rounding out at about 600 orders a day at the beginning of week six of the pandemic. Some days we started shopping at 4:00 a.m. to keep up. Soon my job grew to more than an opportunity to get back on my feet; it became a calling to keep people fed and what felt like a pastoral care role as I talked to customers on the phone.
It was stressful to keep up with the orders. Not because we were afraid of not hitting our metrics; our concern was about making sure we could get food to those who needed it. Especially those who could not physically enter our store, including a customer who believed that they had the virus weeks prior but was still afraid to enter the store after finishing their quarantine.
This new task before us was so important to me that it made the hard things bearable. Like the customers who refused to social distance, the ones who would rather yell at you and make assumptions instead of asking simple questions, or the ones who wanted to fight about wearing a mask. It felt like I was absorbing every customer's anxiety as they came to the store, but I took it because no other customer needed to take that on as they hunted for some eggs.
I do not believe there will be any sense of normalcy for our store soon. Every day is a guessing game: how many orders we will have or when will be able to stop wearing masks to work? I do know this: every day I will show up to be all in and help serve our community by continuing to help feed those who come to our store.
Austin Seminary announces new pastoral residency program
With a heart for the Presbyterian Church in the Synod of the Sun, Beverly and Paul Dickson of Shreveport, Louisiana (shown above), generously agreed to fund the Austin Seminary Pastoral Residency Program for its first five years, with the hope that others will be inspired to help endow the program in perpetuity. “The decision for Beverly and me was obvious,” said Paul Dickson, “We are God’s people whose mission is to God’s people. Pastoral ministry is paramount to the care for God’s people.”
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A library re-imagined: your gifts at work!
What an exciting time for Austin Seminary and we are grateful for your faithful support—yesterday, today, and tomorrow!
Meet Our Seniors!
Kallie is a member of Burke Presbyterian Church in Burke, Virginia, and received a Special Education degree from the University of Mississippi and a master's degree in school psychology degree from Mississippi State University. Kallie completed an internship at First Presbyterian Church of Austin, and is particularly interested in solo pastorate, rural ministry, and small to mid-size congregations. She is married to her lifelong friend Justin, and together they have three children, Karper, Sophia, and Fletcher; they are a veteran USMC family. Kallie will be the Austin Seminary Pastoral Resident at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. Kallie says, "Our family is honored and excited to begin our ministry serving alongside the community at St. Philip Presbyterian Church. I trust it will be a season of learning, and I'm curious about all the ways our time together will nurture us all."
Brendan is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he earned the BA from Coe College, double majoring in music and religious studies. While a student at Austin Seminary, Brendan completed not one, but two internships – as a member of the ministry team at Montreat Conference Center and at the Presbyterian Church of Lake Travis. This spring he is interning as a chaplain at Hospice Austin. Brendan has an interest in connecting congregations to the greater community, social justice, and community engagement. He loves animals, growing plants, and connecting with other people. After graduation Brendan will serve as the Austin Seminary Pastoral Resident at First Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth, Texas.
Usama is an Austin-area native who earned a BA in government from UT Austin. He says he is “very passionate about community and service to others.” If you know Usama, you know that is very much an understated truth. An active member of the community, he is the current student body president. An avid photographer, he took all staff portraits for AustinSeminary.edu. Usama loves to write and travel with his wife, Sara. Last winter they were blessed to go on a Holy Cities Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Mecca, and Medina for a delayed honeymoon. We are delighted that following graduation, Usama begins full-time as program director in Austin Seminary's Student Affairs and Vocation office.
Piper is a member of Hope Presbyterian Church, Austin, and earned a bachelor’s degree in North African Studies from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Piper has served the PC(USA) in various capacities including as an advisory delegate to the 220th General Assembly and as a Young Adult Volunteer for Grassroots Leadership in Austin. Before coming to seminary, she worked in immigration and criminal justice reform which continues to be her passion. Piper served a year-long internship with Genesis Presbyterian Church in Austin. She and her husband, Daniel, live in Austin with their two boys, cat, pig, and chickens.
If you’re in Mission Presbytery you probably already know Susan and her dedication to the church and Christian education. She’s under care of the presbytery and is a member at Madison Square Presbyterian, San Antonio. Susan holds a BA from Dartmouth College in French with a minor in political science. During seminary she has served as a pastoral intern with Genesis Presbyterian in Austin. Her course work has given her a specific interest in small church ministry with a focus on pastoral care, worship, and preaching. Susan and her husband, Rob, have four young adult children and are the newly doting grandparents of a grandson.
Sheth is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Salida, Colorado, and received a bachelors degree in English and creative writing from the University of Northern Colorado. He had careers in ranching, construction, and the United States Postal Service before coming to Austin Seminary. Sheth has been serving as editor of the student publication Kairos. He is particularly interested in preaching, adult education, and letting people know they are loved. He enjoys writing about life on his blog, hunting, fishing, and spending quality time with his fiancée and fellow student Chelsea May Law.
Lee attends Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Park, Texas. She earned a bachelor of science degree from Clarkson University and a JD from the University of Texas School of Law. Before starting seminary, she worked for 16 years as a lawyer specializing in civil defense litigation and appeals before realizing her call to be a different kind of counselor. Lee is in the dual degree program and will also earn an MSSW this spring from the University of Texas at Austin. For her seminary internship, she served First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. Lee will start a one-year chaplaincy residency in the Austin Ascension hospital system in September 2020 and is a candidate for Unitarian Universalist ministry. She and her partner, Jacy, have three children. Lee was recipient of the 2020 W.P. Newell Memorial Fellowship.
Jason came to Austin Seminary having previously had a career in the hospitality / restaurant industry. He says, “My career has been about service to others, about being in relationship with many different people with many different backgrounds, and about leading people to a common goal. Bringing different views and different people together by understanding each other, respecting each other, and loving each other is, I believe, a key to growing a church.” Jason served as pastor to Manor United Methodist Church while a student. He is married to Sandy and they have two sons. Jason says that to refresh himself, he likes to “jump on the John Deere and mow the grass.” The Rio Texas Annual Conference has appointed Jason to be associate pastor at First United Methodist Church, Corpus Christi, Texas.
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What's new at AustinSeminary.edu?
With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, we wanted to share resources with the broader church. Taking the title from a video from Pastoral Care Professor Phil Helsel, we added a page on our website in the Congregational Resources section called "Resources for Desert Times." You'll find professors' videos as well as some of the video messages President Ted Wardlaw has delivered during these uncertain times. It is continually being updated so take something, share something.
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