Jae Mathis has been at Shallowford since shortly after her birth and has memories that still bring a smile and a deep sense of being accepted. As a married adult with two children, Jae has deep connections to Shallowford, not just in her head but in her heart.
Though she warmly recalls childhood times at VBS, Rhinehart Choir camp, being an angel at Christmas, and teenage years in Chapel Choir, youth group, and Scotland trips, Jae also remembers a difficult time when she didn’t feel love from Shallowford or for Shallowford. “Coming out with my sexuality, I just revolted,” Jae shared. “I had always thought of Shallowford as a place of Grace, but at this point in time, I wondered.”
In her young adulthood, Jae came back to Shallowford with her new wife, Hannah. Jae was welcomed, recognized, and called by name. Her church home was again a place of acceptance and renewal. Working her way through feelings she still needed to address, Jae accepted an invitation to go on a mission trip to New Mexico as a medical person for the youth.
“My attitude was — I’ll just take care of boo-boos, and that’s it — instead, on this trip, I found all my childhood joys come alive, and I loved being with the youth.”
This new Shallowford experience led to an invitation to do more things, opening up a place for Jae to be her true self and experience God’s grace through Shallowford.
Now Jae and Hannah, who have been married for roughly ten years, have a son and a daughter and live in Maryland. Both children were baptized in the Shallowford sanctuary, and Shallowford remains their church family even from afar.
“We plan our trips back down so that we fly home on Monday and do Shallowford on Sunday,” says Jae. “Shallowford is our church community.”
This path of faith started as a child for Jae and took several off-road diversions along its way, but now this path of faith and trust brings Jae back where she began: in a church where acceptance, grace, and joy are gifts of love.
