Reverend Lauren Holder’s Lifelong Journey To St. Martin’s-In-The-Field

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The Rev. Lauren Holder’s father had recently died and she was filled with grief. Seeking to process the loss, Holder left her home in Georgia and booked a flight to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James. Over a two-week pilgrimage, Holder hiked 125 miles from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela. She said this gave her the necessary time to recover and pray for St. Martin’s-in-the-Field, a church hundreds of miles away from her home, a church she had only visited, and the church where she would begin serving as the new rector in a little under three months.

In mid-January, St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church of Severna Park celebrated Holder’s official installation as its newest rector.

Throughout most of Holder’s life, the priesthood did not attract her. Though she was always active in her church community from a young age, Holder had no desire to become a rector. She often said to those who encouraged her to pursue it, “My call is to be with people and not be in a pulpit.”

She had always pursued church positions that allowed her to work closely with people. For two years, she served as a missionary and English teacher in West Africa, and for four years she served as a youth minister. In both callings, Holder deeply enjoyed her job, but both times she felt that God was calling her in another direction. While in West Africa, Holder developed a medical condition that prevented her from staying overseas. She believed her calling was missionary work and returned home feeling defeated.

Holder, however, was then pleasantly surprised by a local church asking her to serve as its new youth minister. Again, she thought she had found her calling, yet every few months or so, her boss would ask her if she was interested in pursuing seminary. Holder always declined, until she led a youth mission trip to Costa Rica and overheard a woman talking about her path to becoming a priest. “Maybe I am called to be a priest,” Holder realized at that moment.

She started the lengthy process of becoming ordained in the Episcopalian church and began dating her now husband, Jay Holder. Pursuing priesthood, Holder moved to New York to earn her Master of Divinity at The General Theological Seminary, marrying Jay two days before classes began.

After graduating, Holder served as a priest in churches in New York and Georgia and later applied for bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. She was not selected, but the disappointment from that was overshadowed by her grief for her father, who died a day later. Due to the public nature of the bishop vetting process, many churches knew of Holder and invited her to become their new rector.

However, Holder knew she needed a break. She declined every church that asked, except for one. When St. Martin’s reached out to Holder, the leadership sent her a letter of condolence. Holder deeply appreciated this act of kindness and decided that once she was ready, she would visit the church.

After spending time with congregants, Holder decided St. Martin’s was her next calling, but that before she could begin preaching, she needed to finish grieving. After explaining this to the church, Holder was impacted by the compassion and cooperation from St. Martin’s. She found a community willing to wait for her to finish her sabbatical and hike the Camino de Santiago.

When she returned to the church in October 2024, Holder experienced one of her favorite memories: the weekend she began preaching also happened to be the church’s weekend celebration of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This event, marked by lively music, great food and community, was the perfect start to Holder’s beginnings with St. Martin’s.

Following four months of settling in, Holder, her husband and her two children were excited to celebrate her official installation in January. Holder said that she is blessed by the church community she has grown to love dearly and that she desires for each congregant to know that they are “such a gift” to her. Holder also hopes for greater integration between the church and the Severna Park community. She wants St. Martin’s to be a place of peace and respite for all in the local area.

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