Students Taking
the High Road to Religion:
Seminarian
James Grace
By Sarah Ann Mockbee
James Grace has known since he was in junior high school
that he wanted to be a priest, but his desire to serve his
community through ministry has not stopped him from pursuing
other interests along the way. While in college at Southwestern
University where he majored in Communications, Grace spent
his last few years working as an on-air personality at two
commercial radio stations in the alternative music market.
After graduation, he worked at an investment firm for a year,
but the first few weeks of data entry were enough to convince
him that this was not his calling in life.
Traveling through the Middle East and visiting Bibical archeological
sites rekindled his interest in theology and sprituality. For
him, visiting locations found in the Bible was an “earthy” way
to get in touch with the Biblical and theological story that
has spanned so many years. Soon after, Grace decided to take
a job as a director of Youth and Young Adult ministries at
Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas.
After receiving the blessing of his home parish, Grace entered
Virginia Theological Seminary where he will earn a Masters
of Divinity degree next May. Upon completing the three-year
program, he and his wife, Marla, will move to Houston where
he will serve in a parish for the next two years.
When asked about the pressures that accompany a priest's job
description—most notably the expectation to be a positive
role model for his parishioners—Grace is quick to point
out that while priests are human, it is incumbent upon them
to live a life that complements their theological, spiritual,
and ethical beliefs. “It's not about forcing other people
to subscribe to your moral agenda, but living a life that is
a loving response to the true Ôrole model,' or moral
authority, God. However, I don't see being a role model as
a job in which I must live up to people's moral expectations
twenty-four hours a day, because that's not realistic. Being
a role model to me means being self differentiated enough to
be able to function in periods of anxiety without allowing
that anxiety to regulate my responses. I hope that by modeling
this behavior, others will see that it is a healthy way to
live.”
Along these lines,
Grace notes the importance of religious leaders having interests
other than theology. Grace is proud to boast the fact that
he loves heavy metal music—an admitted anomaly
among his fellow seminarians—but no one judges him because
of it, rather they embrace the idiosyncrasies that make Grace
who he is. For Grace, music of all kinds is an opportunity for
God to speak to him. “God doesn't just speak to us through
Scripture. God is present everywhere, incarnated in the words
of a close friend or lover, the rhythm of a song, and in the
image on the screen.” One could say that this is the crux
of Grace's calling—an attempt to bring others closer
to God in a way that celebrates a personal connection to their
world.#
