Nate Beck
I grew up the son of a Methodist pastor. My childhood spiritual formation was in the Wesleyan tradition and emphasized spiritual disciplines, care for the poor, and daily personal devotion and learning. Charitable outreach was the theme of my early encounters with the faith. Every Christmas morning, we would serve at the church’s soup kitchen for the homeless, and mission trips and local service projects peppered my youth. Once in college at Baylor University, I discovered the Anglican tradition in an ACNA church plant that met in a spare room at the Dr. Pepper Museum. There, I began receiving the Eucharist every Sunday (unlike the Methodist church, which is monthly) and received the sacrament of reconciliation for the first time. The experience of baring my sins without excuse to a priest with the authority to withhold forgiveness, and then receiving that forgiveness, marked my soul permanently.
However, I was not yet confirmed into the Anglican Church and after college I served at my dad’s church as an assistant youth director. It was at a Methodist charismatic conference that I first learned to love God. I had begun to realize that I knew about God but didn’t love Him. I eventually resigned myself to this, making the prodigal son’s request my own: “Make me as one of your servants.” After receiving prayer at the conference, I felt my heart changed and finally could love God: “No longer do I call you servants …but I have called you friends” and I was blessed to feel deeply the adoption of the Father.
Eventually, I moved to Dallas, Texas where Priyankaa and I were married and attended a Southern Baptist church together. I began volunteering in that community at a food bank and as a men’s counselor at a crisis pregnancy center. Yet, traditional Christianity called me back and I was confirmed into the ACNA in 2021. I attended a very high church (smells, bells, icons, rosary) Anglican parish where I served as an acolyte and on the vestry in a number of capacities, including outreach, managing different communications projects, and assisting with parish upkeep. Priyankaa stayed at the Southern Baptist church and we attended two different churches the rest of our time in Dallas. Our marriage was indispensable with maturing me as a Christian as I learned to love her as Christ loves the Church. Engaging charitably with her and the Southern Baptist home groups we continued to attend together was central to my adult formation, as much as the Anglo Catholic spirituality I imbibed at the Anglican parish.