This fall, we’re relaunching Canterbury, the Episcopal campus ministry at Lamar University. Named for the historic seat of Anglican Christianity, Canterbury seeks to offer students a spiritual home rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the rhythms of liturgical prayer, and a welcoming community of a thoughtful and intellectual faith. College is a time of profound formation. For students, it is their first step towards adulthood and making the faith of their youth their own. They are asking life’s most fundamental questions: Who am I? What do I believe? Where do I belong? What will I do with my life? These aren’t just academic exercises — they are spiritual ones. And the good news of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ speaks directly to each of them. The Gospel is the good news to students that their identity is not earned by their performance or striving, but is received as a gift fully and finally given to them in Christ. The Gospel frees them to live with confidence and assurance that they are Christ’s own forever, and that is a reality which is not dependent on them. My hope is that Canterbury will be a place of deep formation for students and faculty alike. We are committed to cultivating the Christian life through scripture, sacraments, prayer, song, honest conversation, and deep friendship. We want to be a community where students can bring their honest questions and doubts without fear, where they can be challenged to grow in holiness, and where they can discover how their life and vocation fit into God’s great story of redemption. Please keep Canterbury Lamar in your prayers! We had our first meeting on campus last night where six of us prayed Evening Prayer as we commemorated the feast of Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, and Hugh Latimer. What an appropriate feast day to relaunch our unabashedly Episcopal campus ministry! Pray for students to find their way into our fellowship. Pray for clarity in my own preaching and proclamation of the Gospel. Pray that St. Mark’s would be a place of welcome and support for young adults seeking a deeper and more rooted Christian faith. If you know a student at Lamar — or if you want to help with hospitality, food, music, or prayer — I would love to talk with you! A Prayer for Schools and Colleges - Book of Common Prayer (p. 824) O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities and especially Lamar University, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — The Rev. Christopher Hilton Curate, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church — Campus Minister, Canterbury Lamar

Join the choir of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for a service of Choral Evensong for All Saints at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 2. The sung service of evening prayer offers an opportunity for reflection and contemplation. Worship in the beauty of solemn holiness as the choir sings the "Preces and Responses" of American composer Katherine Burk Webb and two of the crown jewels of our Anglican heritage -- “Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in C" of Charles Villiers Stanford and Edgar Bainton’s anthem “And I Saw a New Heaven.” The choir will also sing “The Road Home” of Stephen Paulus as we remember those saints who have gone before us. We’ll also feature an anthem of Craig Phillips (All Saints Episcopal, Beverly Hills) that’s a serene chorale setting of one of the Evening Collects. Keep watch, dear Lord. Keep watch with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love's sake. Keep watch, dear Lord, keep watch. Amen. -- Book of Common Prayer (1979) Come for the music. Stay for the fellowship! A festive reception will follow.