Young adults experience a variety of transitions and a community of faith creates an atmosphere of support during this stage of life.
Out of this sense of community, young adults seek ways to live out their Christian calling. Young adults at Heavenly Rest engage with God through the Episcopal tradition and experience, and the parish recognizes, challenges, supports, inspires, and engages young adults in order to foster their faith.
In campus ministry, students are recognized, challenged, supported, inspired, and engaged in honest dialogue around their faith in order to foster their potential.
These overlapping groups intersect at Heavenly Rest through shared meals, regular worship, pastoral care, community service, and participation in other parish ministries.
Contact Joe Biles at jgb19b@acu.edu or Mother Corrie Cabes at ccabes@heavenlyrestabilene.org for more information.
ENCOUNTER
One of the ways students and young adults engage with worship in community is Encounter, a weekly service of Evening Prayer on Sunday nights during the school year in All Saints Chapel.
During the English Reformation of the 16th Century, the spiritual discipline of daily prayer—adopted from the monastic practice of praying the canonical hours (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline)—was democratized and shared with the church at large through its incorporation into the Daily Office of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. Evening Prayer borrowed elements from Vespers and Compline, and has remained an important part of Anglican spirituality to this day.
Encounter is a time for authentic, relevant, and relational worship and mutual encouragement, rooted in the ancient words and rhythms of the Book of Common Prayer's Daily Office. We use contemporary musical settings of the evening Psalms and Canticles that will engage every heart and mind in worship and contemplation.
Encounter is led organically by a rotating mix of students, young adults, ordained clergy, and young-at-heart lay mentors, and strives to enable/equip young adult Christians for greater service to the church and the world.
Canterbury College Ministry
The Canterbury College Ministry provides a welcoming presence, rooted in the Gospel and the Anglican tradition, on the campus of Abilene Christian University. We meet each Thursday morning at 11am for Morning Prayer chapel, as part of ACU’s Spiritual Formation program. We are also excited to be launching a presence at McMurry University beginning with the 2022-23 school year. Canterbury students also participate in life at Heavenly Rest through worship at Encounter, Saturday Brunch and Book Studies, and involvement in other ministries of the church.