Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Michael Distefano – I was raised in Texas by Louisianans. As such, I love the outdoors, art/music, and books and prioritize lingering meals with family and friends. As a junior in high school, a friend helped me understand the gospel and enter the family of God. I carried this new identity and newfound passion for Christ to Texas A&M University where I studied business management/entrepreneurship while volunteering with various on-campus ministries. After graduation, I served as a young adult pastor at Faithbridge Church in northwest Houston. After three years, I moved to the North Shore of Boston where I worked towards an MDiv at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I spent a total of eight years in the northeastern United States, rounding out that time as an associate church planter in Washington, D.C. with Passion City Church and a junior director for Amirah, an anti-trafficking organization in Hartford, CT. While in D.C. I met my wife, Tate, who is quite possibly the rarest combination of kindness and brilliance in a human being currently breathing air. Tate grew up in Birmingham, AL and graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. Tate has lived overseas as a student and missionary (in both Switzerland and Uganda for a year each, respectively). Tate currently serves as a project manager for International Justice Mission’s Global Programs team. Tate is a budgeting wizard, an excellent baker, a closet comedian, and has a profound love for the vulnerable. Each time I pray the compline prayer, “shield the joyous,” I think of Tate. We share a passion for the church, witnessing to the good news of Jesus, and doing justice for the poor. While serving as a director for Amirah, Tate and I moved to Waco, TX so that I might complete an extended thesis on the innovative integration of these themes (with a focus on second century Christianity) at Baylor’s Truett Theological Seminary. I hope to pursue ordination in the ACNA and serve the Church as both a priest and a scholar.
Where are you coming from?
Most recently, Waco, Texas!
What excites you about Christ Church of Austin?
So much! I am thrilled to join a church with a passion for Word and sacrament, the arts, emotionally healthy leadership, and authentic community. Christ Church is a beacon of light, standing out as an example of a healthy integration of passion and humility in ministry. Since the beginning of our Anglican journey, Tate and I have benefitted from the reverberating impact of Christ Church Austin. We began our exploration of the Anglican Way at Church of the Apostles in Bridgeport, CT led by Rector Brian Murphy (formerly the Executive Pastor at Christ Church of Austin). This was the healthiest church experience Tate and I had ever experienced. Upon moving to Waco, we began worshiping at All Saints Waco, a daughter church of Christ Church Austin. Fr. Michael Funderburk, rector of All Saints, introduced Tate and I to the Matthew 25 Initiative Lenten Devotional which blessed us immensely. Both of these communities nourished our souls profoundly. We are excited to give back to the church that has given so much to us, even if indirectly! I am beyond excited to learn from Fr. Matt and the amazing staff and culture at Christ Church of Austin as I pursue ordination in the ACNA.
Why did you become Anglican?
The decision to follow Jesus in the “Anglican Way” was the result of a variety of factors, esthetic, theological, and practical. Initially, the draw had to do primarily with beauty and theology. I found the unique confluence of ancient/reverent and contemporary/accessible to be a rare and beautiful thing – and timely. Through Jeremiah, the Lord commands: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). As a 25 year-old seminary student, already exhausted by what we might call the “modern paths,” I longed for the ancient rhythms of hard work and deep rest exemplified by Jesus of Nazareth. I yearned for a worship experience that held space for sacramental mystery.
Though I hadn’t experienced these things in my evangelical non-denominational life, I had experienced a vibrancy and accessibility in worship that I feared may not be present in more traditional expressions. My pastors and bible-study teachers labored to translate the pearls of wisdom and beauty found in Scripture. They were on an uncompromising pursuit of intimacy with with the God who speaks and is present today – now and always. Though I was intrigued by the sacred rhythms and holy mysteries of my Catholic family and Orthodox friends, I wasn’t willing to relinquish these aspects of my evangelical roots. For these reasons, I felt spiritually and denominationally displaced. As such, walking into Church of the Cross in Boston, MA – my first Anglican worship experience – felt like a homecoming. Here was ancient reverence in liturgical worship and the holy mystery of the Eucharist meal alongside earnest preaching, gospel centrality, and songs of worship in the “language of the people.”
This experience would precipitate a nearly six year journey towards worshiping in an Anglican context. In the intervening years, it became evident to me (at both a large non-denominational church and small house church) that ecclesiological structures provide systems of accountability and oversight (presbyters) as well as directed concern for those in need (deacons) – and are not only necessary but desirable. It was at this point that my interest in Anglicanism (or any denomination in which the leader would be held accountable to a larger system) became practical. When Tate and I began attending Church of the Apostles in Bridgeport, CT, Fr. Brian Murphy would often repeat the phrase, “I am a man under authority.” His pastoral humility (coupled with his giftings and passion) was a balm to Tate and I. The presence of this humility “under authority” put the entire enterprise of pastoring into focus, as if providing the final turn of a kaleidoscope. Fr. Brian invited me to read Richard Hooker’s Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, a foundational theological contribution to the Anglican movement that solidified my trust in the Anglican system of governance. As a person whose vocational calling is to serve the Church (through the pastorate and the academy), I knew in those years under Fr. Brian’s leadership that I would soon begin the path towards ordination in order to join this fraternity of accountability (to the historic church, the current bishopric, and the local parish).
A Letter from Michael:
Hello Christ Church!
Tate and I are thrilled that I have formally joined staff at Christ Church of Austin! Though we have only worshiped with Christ Church on a handful of occasions, we know you to a beacon of light – an outstanding example what it looks like to integrate passion and humility in ministry. Since the beginning of our Anglican journey, Tate and I have benefitted from the cascading impact of Christ Church of Austin. We began our exploration of the Anglicanism at Church of the Apostles in Bridgeport, CT led by Rev. Brian Murphy (formerly the Executive Pastor at Christ Church Austin). We’ve been a part of some amazing churches, but COTA was by far the healthiest church experience we’ve ever had. We love Brian and Tamara deeply and are indebted to their investment in us. In 2022, after eight years in the Northeast, Tate and I moved to Texas (my home state) and began worshiping at All Saints Waco, a daughter church of Christ Church of Austin. Fr. Michael Funderburk, rector of All Saints, introduced Tate and I to the Matthew 25 Initiative’s Lenten devotional which blessed us both immensely. We are similarly indebted to Michael and Jana and the entire All Saints community. Both of these parishes, each tracing their foundational cultures back to Christ Church of Austin, have nourished our souls profoundly. We are excited to give back to the church that has given so much to us(!), even if indirectly. I am beyond excited to learn from Fr. Matt and the amazing staff and culture at Christ Church as I pursue ordination in the ACNA.
I will be serving Christ Church as as curate and will have opportunities through the missions team, the young adult ministry, and Sunday gatherings to get to know many of you! Christ Church “wants to focus on the curate’s pastoral formation in an Anglican context” and I believe that means learning from as many of you as possible. To that end, Tate and I both value hospitality highly and would privilege the opportunity to linger with you over a meal! It struck me, recently, that the context for the Parable of the Good Shepherd – that iconic scene in which the good shepherd leaves the 99 in pursuit of the one so often depicted in Christian art and music – is a simple meal; a revolutionary spiritual truth contained in bread wrappings. Many of us remember the parable, few remember the context. The pharisees ask how Jesus could dare to eat with “tax collectors and sinners.” Jesus responds (in peak form) with this long and rambling story. The unseen reality, Jesus seems to be saying, is profound spiritual beauty. The seen reality, is the simple presence of food, wine, and fellowship. It has been mostly over food and drink that Tate and I have gotten to know Fr. Cliff and Christine, Fr. Matt and Lexie, and others of you that we have already begun to hold dear. It is over food and drink that we hope to get to know many more of you! And it is, of course, over the weekly Eucharist meal that we hope to grow with you all in love for God and each other!
All that to say, we are thrilled to begin this holy adventure with you all!
Peace,
Michael Distefano