Sarah, say you write a Thanksgiving Carol. What would it be called, and why?
It’d be called Merry Turk ‘n’ Holidays because it embodies everything I love about the holidays: food, being merry, and…the holidays.
How did you find Agape/Ecclesia?
I feel like there were all these infamous e-mails that summer (before freshman year) and I never got them.
Did you register as Catholic?
Maybe! I probably did to increase my chances of getting in, so I probably would have used that to my advantage since I didn’t have a lot else going for me as a white girl. White girls at Loyola are pretty rare…Oh! But I was coming off of a summer at a Baptist Christian camp and I knew I wanted to find a community so I searched and searched for one and I visited and went up to Mike and was like “Mike! What do I have to do to serve in this ministry?” and ever since then I’ve been here. Alex and I used to go together. It’s a very cute story.
Did y’all start going together?
I think I found Agape but we lived on Regis’ fourth floor together, and Agape used to be in the Galvin auditorium. So we’d sit in the back, and whenever they’d count us off for groups, without fail for at least the first semester, Alex and I would go into Kelly’s group. We never went with our numbers, we always went to Kelly’s group!
Kelly Clark?
Mm-hmm. She claims she never noticed.
What draws you into the community?
I just feel the presence of God in our community. This is the first church that I’ve actually been a part of and led in where I feel and see the presence of God more than talk about the presence of God. That’s what keeps me coming back first and foremost, but now all my favorite people are there so that helps.
Why are you a Christian?
I’m a Christian because I’ve experienced and felt the love of God, and after knowing that- feeling the love and forgiveness, I can’t go back to not believing that or not having that. I stay a Christian because I know that my life is better with God in it.
What draws you to Jesus?
My inability to make any sort of decisions and the fact that it’s not my decision and it’s not my plan; no matter what I say or do, God’s plan is gonna happen so I’d rather stay on the bandwagon.
What does the church need?
I’m really appreciating our re-focus on God. As freshmen, we were very insular-focused, and especially last year, but I do really feel the switch and I appreciate it. I didn’t even realized we needed it until we started it! Right now, I I think we say that we wanna have a presence on campus and I think that’s the first step, but I don’t think we’ve achieved that yet. We need to really push ourselves out of our comfort zones and have a presence on campus. I was thinking that for one night in Agape, we should just go to a Loyola basketball game. Imagine the presence of 80 extra students with a positive impact being at that game- the students would appreciate it; the faculty would appreciate it. Or going to other events when people actually post about them- how many of us actually go to those events? I know a lot of it is because we’re busy, but we can be known on campus, and seen.
What breaks your heart?
I think first and foremost what breaks my heart is people not willing to listen- I’m definitely guilty of that. I think we create our own reality and our own truth and its really easy to stick with that. Even if its not right, even if it’s not what God is telling us. Because of that, Syrian refugees are not allowed into countries and people are racially profiled and we close our eyes to the poor on the corners in Chicago, and all because we assume a truth that isn’t there. I think we as a culture have a really hard time listening to each other, and that breaks my heart.
What feeds your soul?
Worship; time with Jesus alone where it’s quiet; time with my friends, my family; coffee, food, good conversation.
Do you have a favorite book?
My all-time favorite series is Harry Potter because I grew up with it- it was my childhood. Recently I read “And the Mountains Echoed,”- it’s like a generational book and I really liked it.
What did you like about it?
It went through a few generations of a family and outlined their entire lives, but did it in a way that connected with lots of other families and it was very dramatic, very tragic, so it drew me in.
What would you say to the person reading this?
So my little brother told me yesterday on the phone, when I told him I was graduating and didn’t know what to do with my life, he just says “Sarah! Just live the life you want to live!” which is great advice, but I would change that to “live the life that God wants you to live.”