New Students, Fall 2004

'Holy Ground Beneath my Feet':
Miriam Schmidt

Miriam Schmidt of Chelan, WA, was born and raised in New York City and recalls taking the subway to school as a child with schoolmates of "many different ethnic origins…I walked the streets of the Upper West Side, drinking in the energy, the art, the poverty, the wealth, the joy and the pain that coexist in close proximity." She recalls with affection her childhood church, St. Peter's Lutheran Church in the Citicorp Building in Manhattan, "where I was encouraged to read the lessons, join the acolytes and teach Sunday School. When I looked around the congregation I learned that the Body of Christ was intriguing in its diversity. I was lucky to learn a Christianity that encouraged thoughtfulness and questioning." While attending Swarthmore College she mingled with Episcopalians and Quakers. Later moving to New Mexico, she began a love affair with the West and experienced Roman Catholic masses sung in Spanish. She later worked in Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center, serving as a cook and food service coordinator, appreciating closeness with God and the Christian community there. "During my time at Holden I discovered a direction for my ministry. I hope to continue feeding the hungry, practically and metaphorically, with fellowship, God's forgiveness and bread. I am eager to explore the challenges of rural ministry. But I know that in either home, be it rural or urban, the same holy ground lies beneath my feet, and the Spirit gives me life each new day."