On May 11th, Rev. Becca Stevens was honored at a service celebrating 20 years at St. Augustine’s Chapel. Board President Mary Murphy presented Rev. Stevens with a monetary gift that will help support her work in Africa this summer expanding Love Heals to launch a Share Trade Alliance. The community of St. Augustine’s came out to thank Rev. Stevens for the 20 years of hard work and dedication. A formal celebration will be held on August 17th. Please visit the St. Augustine’s web site for details as they develop.

Below is the letter from Advisory Board President Mary Murphy.

April 21, 2014

It is with great gratitude that we celebrate Becca’s 20th year of chaplaincy at St Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel. Her ministry has blessed our community, greater Nashville, and the wider world with visions and outreach of love and healing. On Sunday, May 11, the advisory board will present Becca with a financial gift from the chapel and community in honor of her 20th year of service. Becca will use this gift for her and her family’s travel expenses to Africa this summer.

One of Becca’s goals for broadening the Love Heals mission is to launch a Shared Trade Alliance for women’s social enterprises worldwide. In June of 2014, Becca will partner with the Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha, of Kampala, Uganda, to found a social enterprise that benefits women with HIV. While there she will also serve as a panel speaker at the Professors in Residence Forum, for FOCAGIFO, a kickoff fundraising event for Hope University Semuto. At the conclusion of this forum, Marcus and Levi will perform as part of the fundraising concert. For more information on Hope University and Canon Gideon, please visit https://www.focagifo.org/ resources.html.

Then Becca will travel to Rwanda to further develop an existing alliance with Nicolas Hitimana and Ikirezi. Ikirezi produces the beloved geranium oils used in Thistle Farms products and benefits the women survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Please save the date for our celebratory reception on Sunday, August 17, immediately following our regular worship service. Becca and her family will share a slideshow and stories from their summer trip, and we will present her with a more personal expression of our appreciation.

We invite everyone from the St. A’s community to come together and create something special. In lieu of individual messages of congratulations and commemorative gifts, the board will collect and bind together handwritten notes from all of us into one beautiful book. Ideas for notes include favorite anecdotes and memories, sayings and stories from Becca’s ministry, and thanksgivings and prayers for Becca. Please send your notes to Mary Murphy at St. Augustine’s Chapel, Box 6330 B, Nashville, TN 37235 by July 15. All submissions need to fit on one single-sided 8.5 x 11-inch page. Thank you for helping us celebrate this important milestone in our community.

Peace and love,

Mary Murphy
Advisory Board President of St Augustine’s Chapel