Weaving Our Story
Our History
In January of 2011, St. Hildegard’s Community celebrated its 15th anniversary as a Eucharistic Community of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Austin.
Our Community traces its origins to an awakening to the stirring of the Holy Spirit experienced by several members of St. George’s parish in the 1980s. St. George’s parish has a long history of being welcoming to marginalized Episcopalians, where 12-step programs and educational ministries continue to enrich the community life. Further emphasizing the parish’s commitment to progressiveness, St. George’s was the first Episcopal church in Austin to invite a woman priest to serve on staff as Associate Rector, Judith Liro, who continues to shepherd St Hildegard’s Community as our priest.
These events provided fertile ground for innovation. The Church of the Saviour in Washington, D. C. and its associated Wellspring Retreat Center provided accessible models for a more progressive model of being Church. Following the Washington model, a School for Christian Living was launched at St. George’s. This was later renamed the Servant Leadership School, and continues to offer spirit-enriching 10-week courses focusing on personal spirituality and spiritual community-building each spring and autumn.
In the early 1990s, St. George’s parish polarized into traditional and progressive with many frustrating and fruitless attempts at resolution over a period of several years. The Rector at that time - the Rev. David Hoster - conceived the creative alternative of two worshiping communities within St. George’s parish, fully in communion with each other. This solution proved liberating and unifying for both groups and after much prayer and mindful deliberation, steps were taken to birth the new Eucharistic Community. St Hildegard of Bingen was chosen as our community’s namesake and has served as historical inspiration since our first St. Hildegard’s Eucharist was celebrated early in 1996.
While our fledgling community was extended access to the regular St. George’s worship space, we decided instead to use the “blank slate” of nearby Kleberg Parish Hall as our new home for liturgical celebration. Our continuing hope is to find liberation from the many ingrained assumptions and limitations about worship practice restricted to traditional church architecture. A circle of chairs in Kleberg symbolizes the connectedness of peers, avoiding any suggestion of hierarchical structure.
Our Community has focused over the past several years on learning how to pioneer its model for being Church in the 21st Century. Experiments have included enhancements of liturgical space and decorations, the writing of seasonal liturgies, the composing of appropriate liturgical music, and incorporation of the cascade of new religious books into a coherent theology that reflects the context of our own particular time and place.
Our journey has not always been an easy road, but the blessing of God’s faithfulness in preserving us through occasional storms has opened our souls to experiencing joy and peace in places we would have never otherwise searched. Living into authentic community – striving to both rediscover and recreate Church that is both relevant for our lives in the contemporary world and yet remains rooted in the faith of those women and men whose examples inspire us – is our continuing adventure. We welcome you to join with us as we walk together into this uncharted continent of spiritual renewal.
For more info:
The Big Picture: Our Anglican Roots
