Sarah Smith will be joining us very soon at Emmanuel as our new Curate; her first day with us will be November 1st.
For those who don’t know, a Curate is a priest who is a recent seminary graduate. Curacy is a time for a new priest to get an introduction to work in the church in healthy parish. Sarah will be with us a year preparing for her life of ministry, so let’s all work together to give her a great start!
Sarah is a sixth generation Oklahoman, growing up in northwest Oklahoma City. She was recruited to play softball at the University of Notre Dame, where she played left field for the Fighting Irish and completed a degree in Catholic Systematic Theology. After undergraduate studies, she completed a master's degree in Sports Administration at the University of Northern Colorado and worked as an administrator in the Notre Dame Athletics Department in the Office of Student Welfare and Development. Sarah completed a master's in Theological Studies at Vanderbilt University with a Carpenter Certificate in Religion Gender and Sexuality in May 2016. Sarah served as seminarian intern at St. Ann's Episcopal Church in Nashville for two years funded by the Arcus Grant. Her ministry focus was homelessness. She assisted in the creation of Launch Pad—grassroots shelters in urban churches—for young adults experiencing homelessness in Nashville. After, Sarah served as the Director of Media & Technology for the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma and the Head Softball Coach at Casady School. In November 2017, she started the Theosophia Podcast, a platform for women's voices in theology. In December 2021, Sarah was ordained to the transitional diaconate. She completed a diploma in Anglican Studies at the Seminary of the Southwest in May 2022. She completed her first year of curacy at St. Paul’s Cathedral in OKC in June. She was ordained to the priesthood on June 24th, the Feast Day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Sarah was selected to be a part of the first cohort of the Trinity Wallstreet Fellowship Program. This executive MBA style curriculum is designed to help young clergy and lay people become innovative, values-driven and faith-inspired leaders in the contemporary world of the Church. Sarah leads a chapter organization of a new community in the Episcopal Church called the Order of Naucratius. Naucratius Oklahoma is a hunting and fishing Creation Care ministry that strives to bring protein to those in need.
Please help us in making Sarah feel especially welcomed when you see her around.