The Rev. Tracey Carroll, Area Missioner in the Northeast Convocation, organized the campus visit. She discovered the connection between St. John’s and Panola College while facilitating a conversation at St John’s about the future of their local mission in Carthage. The Rev. Jennene Laurinec has served as bivocational priest at St John’s for more than a decade and led worship in the chapel at Panola College for three years, helping lay the foundation for further connection to the college.
Together, they created an opportunity for the Revds. Alex Montes-Vela and Andrew Terry to visit Panola College in Carthage last week. The president of the college for the last couple decades, Dr. Gregory Powell, is a member of St John’s, Carthage. He led them on a tour and they lunched at the college together with the vicar and other members of the church.
Several years ago, St John’s provided funds to help establish a Feed the Need comfort closet for students. Students can anonymously get basic hygiene and food items at the closet. These items are also distributed in dorm rooms before students arrive on campus and also are in public bathrooms to be easily accessible.
St John’s is now discerning to begin a unique model of campus ministry by adopting students in a specific department of the college, to provide meals, support and a wider sense of family to those students.
Dr. Gregory Powell is completing his tenure as president of the college at the end of his school year. It is clear that he has helped develop a caring culture at Panola and that his time as president was for him a lay ministry and expression of his Episcopal faith.
