Establishing a new relationship with God

This is the last in a series of stories by Jane Bean of Cornwall about area residents who have chosen the ministry as a second career.

SHARON — Heidi Truax, longtime resident of Sharon and recently of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, seems to have accepted her destiny with a willingness and passion that are admirable.

The mother of four boys, now grown, and wife to Philip, Truax has devoted many years of her life to the Episcopal Church, as church treasurer, and as an active member of the Sharon Woman’s Club (through which she ran a program called WOW, Women on Wheels, for five years).

In 1997, Truax decided to enroll in a Ministry Education and Exploration Program (MEEP) that her Episcopal diocese was offering.

“After experiencing life’s bumps in the road, and then having a spiritual awakening and a new relationship with God, I began to explore what I might do to follow God’s will for me,†Truax said. “I have always loved the church, but often I think we get so stuck in our roles that are formed over the years that it’s hard to imagine what else we might be capable of doing, or even what we might want to do.â€

The MEEP program is a two-year program of action and reflection, study and work, that is designed to help the participant explore a life of lay or ordained ministry. Truax spent much of her time studying scripture, writing and starting a servant leadership project, as well as talking to many others from the diocese around the state who were involved in the same journey she was on.

“It was quite a life-changing two years for me. I had to form a discernment committee and that was the key. This was not just another church committee. For all of us in this group it was a time, a process, where we found out something new about ourselves.

“Sometimes we need help with our hope,â€she explained. “Sometimes we can’t imagine big things on our own, and need support to even consider doing something as audacious (it seemed to me) as thinking I could be a priest in the Episcopal church.â€

Truax entered seminary at Berkeley Divinity School (the Episcopal seminary located at Yale Divinity School in New Haven), in the beginning of 2001.

Both of her parents had died in 2000, but she decided to continue with her plan nonetheless; when one door closes, another opens.

Truax was ordained to the transitional diaconte in June 2005, and to the priesthood in January 2006. In the Episcopal church every priest is first ordained as a deacon. “There were lots of hurdles and hoops along the way, but that is what tests our fortitude.â€

Devotion can be short lived, but when it’s combined with the experiences of life, and the curiosity of the born teacher, then the rough road can seem less bumpy. When asked about her family’s support of her along the way, she referred to it as gradual and solid.

“They were, and continue to be, very supportive. I didn’t just announce out of the blue one day that I was called to the priesthood. There were many discussions over a period of years, and it just evolved.â€

Once she had finished with her studies and was about to be ordained, she was offered a position as curate at Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport.

Truax’s husband, Philip, encouraged her to take the job even though it meant a sacrifice of their time together for three years. Trinity is a large parish and it meant there were lots of experiences for the new priest to confront. One of these experiences was mission work. While at Trinity, Truax and her husband led short term mission trips to Honduras.

“After much prayer and deliberation, we accepted the call to a missionary post and have been here in Tegucigalpa working since last fall.† 

Truax was working as the assistant priest for the Cathedral of Santa Maria, where she taught Christian education in St. Mary’s Bilingual School during the week. Their mission ended at the end of the school year in May.

Where to next?

“I’m not sure where God is calling us next.â€

She is interviewing for the position of rector at a number of churches in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.  “As I’m fond of saying, God didn’t bring me this far just to drop me on my head.â€

The pastor maintains a blog at heiditruax.com.