Q & A with Megan Mason

Hello! My name is Megan Mason (she/her), and I currently serve on the Leadership, Ministry, and Formation Teams here at Imago. I also am a volunteer in the Genesis ministry. By day I am the part-time Administrative Assistant for St. Michael & All Angels Anglican Church and a stay-at-home parent. By night, I am a second-year seminary student at Garrett-EvangelicalTheological Seminary. I was going to answer some silly questions today, but in true seminarian fashion, I spent way too much time on one topic.

What has happened to you that you are pretty sure was led by God?

I have always felt a pull to ministry, but I did not know what that meant. I knew I loved God and wanted to help others be in a relationship with God. I grew up in an Anglican diocese where women were not ordained, so I took this “ calling” to mean that I should continue to work as a church camp counselor and be on the leadership team. Then, after opening up to my priest friend about feeling disconnected in the church, I was recommended to read “Searching for Sunday” by Rachel Held Evans. This book changed my life because she was writing to all of the questions about organized religion, the bible, and faith in general that I was asking myself but was too afraid to vocalize. 

Fast forward many years, and the world loses Rachel Held Evans tragically. The day she died, I asked myself, “Life is short, so why am I still pushing this idea of studying theology away?” 

In the next few months, I began researching seminaries. I asked quite a few friends and acquaintances about their seminary experiences and explored all the websites of all the seminaries I could find. Dustin Hite guided me to the Formation Communities at Imago to help me during this discernment process. 

Then the Pandemic hit. I began homeschooling the kids while trying to maintain my sanity, so everything got on the back burner. I continued to read, listen to podcasts, and engage in life at Imago in every way I could, but I didn’t think pursuing this idea of seminary now seemed like a wise choice. But I signed up with a few seminaries to get more information, thinking I would wait to hear from them since the world was shut down. 

Then on May 19th, 2020, Rachel Held Evans’s first anniversary of passing away, I received a call from Chicago Theological Seminary. The admissions counselor talked with me for a while, let me share my story, apologized on behalf of the Christians who made me feel unsafe to pursue this calling earlier, and then shared information about their seminary. 

I then met Heather Robertson through her small group here at Imago, “Brave Space,” where she and my small group affirmed me even more. I remember a one-on-one Zoom with her, and she said, “Megan. Your face lights up when you talk about studying theology. Why is that?” And then it just clicked. I’;m doing this thing. Through the support of all the people at Imago, my family, and even clergy and friends from my old church (who I assumed would not support me) I applied. And I got in! And I received an excellent scholarship for most of the tuition! Someone was actually paying for me to do this. I had more support than I could have ever imagined. I always feared that I would do this alone, but I was not alone. I had people in my corner from every aspect of my faith journey. 

So, on my 38th birthday, I walked into new student orientation at Garrett in Evanston, Illinois. The school is nestled in the middle of the beautiful campus of Northwestern University, right next to the observatory and the Shakespeare Gardens. It is next to the Lakefill, which has one of the best views of the Chicago skyline. The library looks like something out of Harry Potter, and I found a coffee shop/Asian bakery to call my own. I was home. 

I immediately felt comfortable with the other students, and we all began to share our hopes and dreams for this program. The whole place has a feeling of beauty, peace, and love. The staff is supportive and genuinely wants to make seminary the best experience. I knew I had found the right place when the dean of students made us all recite a Kendrick Lamar song together during our closing service. 

While I decided to go to a different seminary than Chicago Theological, I’ll never forget that affirming call from that admissions officer. It was the wake-up call I needed, and I can’t explain the whole turn of events as anything other than the Holy Spirit. And that voice of the Holy Spirit has continued in various ways. It has continued with affirmations from professors that I genuinely admire. It has continued with Imago and my old church members coming up to me and saying how proud they are of me for doing this. Even though I don’t know where this road will take me, whether ordination, teaching, or who knows, I’m trying to listen because God is already speaking, and I need to remember to pay better attention.