Today we’d like to introduce you to Hallie Parkins.
Hi Hallie , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m an ELCA pastor, mom of two, and cellist. In February 2023, I began a call call to serve as pastor of a fallow (and feral) Lutheran campus ministry at Oregon State University. Over the past three years, I’ve worked with faithful colleagues, dreamers, and companions in the holy work of creating a space of belonging (radical, queer-affirming, always about love). Using the language of faith, In the years following the disruption of campus life and ministry caused by the pandemic, we leaned into trust in God’s faithfulness, guided by the words of Isaiah: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”
I started with one student (who told me he didn’t like ministry- and I dressed like a millennial 😉 I put posters in the dorm laundry rooms advertising free dinner. I passed out spider plants on the quad. I stood up in churches and invited young adults to eat waffles and talk about theology (“tell me about the kind of God you don’t believe”).
Here is this new thing! Students crowd around the table in friendship, care, and good food. Meals have always been the place where so much of Jesus’ ministry happens, and that continues to be true. Students proclaim, boldly, the open and affirming commitment of God’s inclusive love for everyone—especially queer, nonbinary, curious, seeking, and spiritually hungry students. This campus ministry has grown into a fruitful, life-changing, and seriously fun young adult ministry, now in partnership with the Episcopal church, too. Students know that Good Samaritan Episcopal Church is home, and Grace Lutheran is home, and when they graduate and go out into the world, they will continue to know they are home in these communities of faith.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! No. Definitely not.
I work with gen z students- they aren’t particularly known for being religious, or Lutheran or Episcopalian for that matter. They aren’t in most congregations to begin with- and there’s a real Chrisitan national presence in other campus ministries- so the obstacles were really high.
Funding was also really scary. Even though the campus ministry has been on campus for 100 years, the pandemic really rocked the organization.
Adding to the beginning of it all, I was pregnant and felt like walking birth control for the students.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Pastor is kind of a huge catchall- preaching, teaching, pastoral care, everything you’d expect on Sunday morning if you were in a church, plus cook, janitor (we’ve all plunged a Lutheran toilet at some point), gardener, grant writer, fundraiser and property manager. It’s never boring.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Other executive directors have been a godsend, especially in the camp/campus worlds. I’ve appreciated especially the women who are EDs, and have been at it for a long time- there’s a sharpness and knowing that comes with this leadership experience.
Pricing:
- free dinner
- free crafts
- free grace
Contact Info:
- Website: https://luther-house.org
- Instagram: lutherhouseosu
- Facebook: Luther House Campus Ministry
- Youtube: Luther House @lutherhouseoregonstate
