Name and pronouns: Patrick Christopher Kangrga (he/him)
Cohort year: 2013-2014
Where are you living now? Jackson, Mississippi
What are you doing now? Lay Ministry; Director of Youth Ministries at St. James' Episcopal Church in Jackson, MS.
How has Life Together impacted your Life?
I participated in two years of Episcopal Service Corps programs. My first year was in Maryland with the Gileads. Life Together followed. If my experience with the Gileads was like opening a door, then my experience with Life Together was like turning on the light switch in the room to which that door led. The Gilead's gave me opportunities and possibilities that, if I am honest, I thought would always be out of my reach. Life Together helped me to discern one of those possibilities as a life calling.
Before going to Maryland, I had these two wonderings that I had put into the back of my mind, "What would it be like to be a priest or pastor?" and "What would it look like for me to have more meaningful involvement with children or youth in church?" I did not address these questions all that much at the time for two reasons. First, I had attempted a college degree and had failed at it. Second, I could not imagine that someone like myself would ever be acceptable or worthy of being a minister in the eyes of others or God.
The benefit of my Life Together year was that it gave me more chances to gain experience. I learned from others and I learned about myself. I could try things and fail even miserably, knowing grace was abundant. Ultimately, this gift of failing with an abundance of grace was the true blessing I received from Life Together and the entirety of my ESC experience. I suspect a world without Life Together and ESC would have been far less gracious to me. And I think the old me, the person I was before Life Together and ESC, would have had little grace too. But the person I am today and the person I believe I continue to grow into sees the beauty of the story God was writing. How the chapters that came before gave birth to the chapters that followed and the one I am living now.
Anything else you'd like to share?
There is no doubt in my mind that my experience in the Episcopal Service Corps and with Life Together has allowed me to live my best life. I have a career that I see as a calling. I love what I do to earn a living. I have been able to become more involved in the wider Episcopal Church. I have been a part of Forma, A Ministry of ECF, the Network for Christian Formation for the Episcopal Church and beyond for some time now. I joined Forma's leadership and recently became the Interim Chair.
Also, I have been able to do things that I always wanted to do because of my career. I walked the Camino in Spain with some youth. Because I make a decent salary and am given vacation, I have gone to some of my top dream destinations like Florence and Rome, Italy. I learned to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef.
I have even been able to revive one of my earliest passions. I am a published author. Not a book yet but I have several devotionals, meditations and essays published related to my church work and faith life.