My Eras Tour by Megan Mason

Because I am a Swiftie, when I was asked to share where I came from, I thought about my story in Eras. To begin, I was born into my “Cradle Episcopalian Era.” I have been attending church for as long as I can remember. My first memory was singing hymns in a little Episcopal Church in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Church was something we did every Sunday as a family and I never knew any different. My parents were very involved in their church and many of our friends in this small little town were from church. The priest’s son was our babysitter. The organists’ granddaughter was my best friend. My mom helped with Sunday School and my dad served most Sundays at the altar. At an early age, I could recite the Sanctus, the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei by heart. 

Then high school came, and I needed to branch out and try different denominations. I needed something different because my faith felt stale. I was always looking for the new and improved Christianity with cooler music and a message I could apply to my life. I attended the “hip” youth group in town and entered what I call the “Evangelical Era” of my life. Here, I entered into every Bible Study I could get my hands on, went to every convention I could attend, and dove headfirst in Christian Purity Culture. It was not until my youth group took a field trip to a Hell House, or the Christian version of a Haunted House about all the things that could send you to Hell, that I realized that this was not the right fit for me. All of it just felt off. 

During all of this, the church I grew up in was going through a major split and I still did not know what I believed, so I wanted completely out. I continued my Evangelical Era in college but began to have my eyes opened to different kinds of people and faiths. I began to see how harmful Purity Culture was but also felt that it was what God wanted for my life. It was a weird tension that I am sure many can relate to unfortunately. It was a series of wanting to do the right thing in the eyes of God, and then making “mistakes” and then wanting to get back into the good graces of God. It was a tale as old as time if you have read anything in the Old Testament.

After college, I took some distance from God in my “Rebellious Era.” I was on my own, working my own job and living my own life. I did not want to attend church and did not know that God belonged in my life. Did this occur because of my jaded attitude toward organized religion because of the church split? Or was this just a natural progression in my life that I was supposed to go through?  I was not completely out but was definitely not in either. 

In my late 20s, after I got married and started to have kids, I felt a need to try to find a faith community that I really belonged to. I began to go to the church my parents were at, mainly because I knew they could help with the kids during service. Also, Anglicanism was familiar to me so I knew that no matter where I was faith wise, I could count on the hymns and prayers to remain the same. When talking to a priest friend, he recommended a book that would change my life called “Searching for Sunday” by Rachel Held Evans. Thus began my “Deconstruction Era.”  I read all the books. Lived in the Liturgist Podcast forums. And really began to see the issues within my own denomination. This was when I realized that I did not have to make something work for me if it did not align with my core beliefs of love and inclusion. 

I did not want to completely leave behind Jesus though. As Rachel Held Evans once wrote, “The Story of Jesus is the story I’m willing to risk being wrong about.”  Enter Imago Dei and my “Reconstruction Era.” For Lent one year, I decided to start looking for a church that fit my beliefs better. I wanted a more open and affirming place, even though I was only recently affirming in my own theology. I often tell this story, but I went in and out of Imago a few times a month without speaking to anyone. I would go get coffee during the 7 Minute Greeting and Dustin Hite was the first person I ever spoke to. We met for coffee where I told him my whole story and told him that I felt called to ministry. He was one of the first people I told this to, and he was a complete stranger. He affirmed my story and my calling and then told me I looked like Rachel Held Evans, so I knew I had found my new home. It was hard to leave my family and my denomination, but most people were understanding. I feel very fortunate to still have a relationship with my old denomination and still continue to serve in their youth camp each summer, where my voice and affirming theology is much needed. Even though we do not align on many theological areas, we still have the goal of loving and serving like Jesus. 

Flash forward to my “Seminary Era” today where I am a second year Master of Divinity Student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois where I plan to become a deacon in the United Methodist Church.  I am getting ready to start my internship in the Fall, which will be at Imago, and I am very excited to learn as much as possible from Melinda! I am looking forward to using my knowledge of liturgy, the lectionary, my theological education, and my experience with youth ministry in my internship.