Speaking, Singing, and Dancing with Wisdom Beyond Her Years

Meet St. Stephen’s

Throughout our process of discussing who we are at St. Stephen’s, where we hope to go as a congregation, and what qualities we seek in a new rector, many parishioners repeatedly described our congregation as a “family,” with each person playing a unique and valuable role in our church family’s life together. So, in addition to describing the communal aspects of our congregation, we have decided to include several brief personal profiles of various members of St. Stephen’s to illustrate the many ways people of our congregation are living out their faith both within our church and in the world around us.

Adults sometimes wryly lament, “Youth is wasted on the young.” But Eryn certainly has not wasted her youth. She graduated from high school in spring 2018 and now is in the prestigious State Street Ballet’s Professional-Track program in Santa Barbara, California. Designed for advanced dancers age 18 to 21, the program teaches ballet, modern dance, conditioning, and choreography.

Reminiscing about St. Stephen’s, Eryn notes, “The church was a second home to me. I started singing in a children’s choir before I could even read words or music. I also attended Sunday School, and I began serving as an acolyte when I was around 8 years old.”

Eryn continued to acolyte throughout her teen years, eventually setting a church record for serving more than 500 hours. She also transitioned from Sunday School to Youth Group in middle school and remained active through high school.

“I actually wanted to be in Youth Group before I was old enough,” she recalls. “There were fun activities in Youth Group — games, crafts, eating pizza and discussing current events. When I was younger, it was a larger group, but as I grew older, the group became smaller. I really hope St. Stephen’s can expand the Youth Group again.”

In addition to St. Stephen’s activities, Eryn applied to join the three-year Colorado Youth Leadership Program sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese. “I was honored to be chosen for the program,” she says. “As part of the program, they sponsored three trips, which took place during the summers.”

The first summer, the group went to the Episcopal Retreat Center at Cathedral Ridge located near Woodland Park, Colorado. “That trip was about bonding with the kids who would be in the program for the next three years,” she says.

For the second trip, the teens traveled to Haiti, to work with children in the Colorado Haiti Project, which was founded in 1989 by an Episcopal priest from Haiti and two Colorado Episcopal priests. “We stayed at St. Paul’s School in rural Haiti, which is funded by the Colorado Haiti Project,” Eryn says. “The kids there were so friendly, loving and intelligent, and they wanted to be right with us all the time. People make it sound like Haiti would be a sad place, but I was surprised at how happy the kids were.

“Our third trip was more of a spiritual trip, making the pilgrimage along Camino De Santiago in Spain,” she continues. “We walked 10 to 20 miles per day. Our leaders sometimes walked ahead of us so we had time to ourselves. The most moving part was walking into the cathedral at the end of the journey. By the end of that trip, we were a very connected group.”

Now Eryn is seeking her new “second home” church. “I attended a Baptist church with a friend, but it wasn’t as welcoming as an Episcopal church, so I started attending an Episcopal church here,” she says. “I live my faith by just trying to attract people in my life who are Christ-like and to surround myself with good people.”