At just 5-years-old, Leslie Hague was expected to go down into the basement with the other kids and color, but instead she stayed in church. Although she couldn’t quite understand the old-fashioned language used in the service, she felt at home.
“For me, this feels like a place where people don’t just go to church. It’s a part of their life here. And that appealed to me,” said Hague.
Rev. Hague, also known as Mother Leslie, has served as rector of St. Matthew’s Pennington for over a year. Having spent 25 years ordained as a priest and serving in four churches across the country, Hague uses her experience and passion to introduce fresh ideas to the church like “invite, welcome, and connect” and discussion groups looking at contemporary issues through the lens of the gospel. Following her summer-long leave due to a knee replacement, Hague is excited as things are getting back into full swing.
“I was really glad that as I came back, people were really good about saying, ‘remember, don’t do too much.’ And now they’re saying, ‘don’t do too much.’ And I’m like, no, no, I’m ready. I’m fully back on board,” said Hague.
Hague finds charm in the similarities between Pennington and the tiny rural town in Virginia that she grew up in where, at 10-years-old, she felt she could be a good acolyte. However, since girls couldn’t be acolytes, she took matters into her own hands.
“So finally, when I was 10, I convinced my priest to allow me to be the first female acolyte of my church, and that would have been in like 1977,” said Hague.
During her time as an acolyte, Hague was met with her call to ordination. While kneeling at the communion rail watching the priest bless the bread and wine for communion, Hague saw herself in the place of her priest at the altar.
“I was 15, and I was like, this is weird, but didn’t think anything of it,” said Hague.
It took her 13 more years to enter seminary. In trying to run from what she now sees as her calling; Hague was only met with more signs. After college, she lived in Japan where she met Jesus at the Buddhist and Shinto temples she visited and realized God is bigger than the church. About a year after returning from Japan, Hague entered the process to become a priest.
“When my call was church, then I didn’t have an interest in following it, but I really realized my call was church because of God’s central place in my life…that was when I thought, this is not just a call as a priest. It is a vocation, and it is something that, if I don’t follow it wherever it goes, I will be forever starved,” said Hague.
Hague finds delight in the various perspectives present at St. Matthew’s. Her joy lies in, not only high fiving preschoolers at the church’s youth program, but also the family in the congregation that spans four generations, something Hague mentions could not be found at her previous Church in Florida.
“We have a person that’s close to 100 and we have little little ones. And I love that all parts of life are here and within our midst,” she said.
At St. Matthew’s, a parish of about 130, Hague feels she can be more present and involved in people’s lives since she receives help with administration.
“Usually when I go into a church, I have to teach them, ‘no, you are ministers too’…when I came on board, I didn’t have to do that, because they were already very empowered to do ministry,” said Hague.
Hague and her wife, Katie, wondered if the boundaries between work and home would be blurred in living on church property. They were pleased to find that this was not the case. While Katie is not an Episcopalian herself, she supports Hague and “keeps (her) honest.” After being the first active priest in the diocese of Virginia to come out and get married in 2012, Hague’s Bishop told Katie not to let anyone define what a clergy spouse should be.
“We’ve been together for 21 years, and churches, especially the coming out process which went very smoothly for us, have been so welcoming, including here at St Matthew’s. They’ve just embraced us,” said Hague.
Just a week after coming to St. Matthew’s, the couple shared Katie’s cancer diagnosis with the congregation. Despite just meeting them, the people of St. Matthew’s jumped to their aid offering meals and help with errands.
“That’s the kind of place this is. They step up, even when the people are basically strangers,” said Hague.
St. Matthews is now revamping their ministry through the invite, welcome, and connect program, which is expected to be rolled out in January. Its mission is to foster an environment where people can find what they are looking for at the church, whatever that may be.
“This person is here because of some need within them. And how do we be open to them and give them support in finding how to get that need met, especially getting it met and living a full life in Christ,” said Hague.
The church holds discussion groups that look at contemporary issues through the lens of the gospel. While Hague does not wish to promote any particular candidate, she believes that many issues perceived as political can be answered through the Bible. Despite being a patriot, Hague describes herself as “a citizen of God’s kingdom first.”
This Sunday, October 5, after the 10 a.m. service, Hague will be providing a program on Palestine and Israel in which she will explain an overview of the region and its history, why there has so often been conflicts there and why it is holy to multiple religions.
Through preaching and helping others, Hague has also been able to help herself. At St. Matthew’s, she is able to maintain a healthy work-life balance and remind herself that she is better equipped to be there for others when she allows them to do the same for her.
“I can honestly say a year later that I feel more called to be here, and I felt pretty called to be here to begin with. But I feel more called and more firm in my understanding that this is where God has placed me, and I’m praying for many years of ministry together with this wonderful parish family,” said Hague.
Learn more about St. Matthew’s at https://www.stmatthewspennington.org/
