Angelle Hall named campus minister of the year

by Macie Capote

New Orleans native and former Ascension of Our Lord parishioner Angelle Hall was astounded when she heard the news.

Hall, the director of campus ministry at the St. Thomas More Newman Center that serves multiple Missouri college campuses, received the prestigious Rev. Charles Forsyth Award from the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA) for exceptional leadership in Catholic campus ministry.

Hall was leading a pilgrimage to the Marian shrines of Wisconsin when she got word of the honor she was to receive.

“I was at lunch, just checking my email – I mean this was the Wednesday of Holy Week,” she said, recalling what she thought to be an ordinary day. “We’re focusing on Jesus, we’re walking with Mary, this is not about me!”

But in all seriousness, Hall said, she was honored and grateful to have received this award, and it led her to reflect on how much of a “product” she is of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Her early formation

Hall grew up in LaPlace, where she attended Ascension of Our Lord Church with her parents and her three younger siblings. Father Benjamin “Benny” Piovan, the church’s founding pastor, spiritually nurtured her family and shaped their faith, she said.

“Father Benny was such a big influence in my family’s life growing up, and really the whole church for that matter,” she said. “They are just a great example of a church of people who love God and who care and pray for one another.”

The most profound moment of Hall’s life was watching her parents’ conversion to the Catholic faith. With Father Piovan’s direction, God was at work in their lives – fast.

“By the time I was in high school, my mom was the president of the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization), my dad was the grand knight of the Knights of Columbus and I was the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) co-president,” she said. “It wasn’t always like that, but by their example, I could see that with God, everything was better.”

Hall’s parents became pillars of the Catholic community in LaPlace and also, for her, in modeling the faith. Hall said to this day, her parents continue to inspire her in her faith, and she hopes to follow in their footsteps.

“My dad is committed to singing in every choir,” she laughed. “And probably half the people in LaPlace learned about their first Communion from my mom.”

Catholic education key

On top of the formation she received from her parish, Hall said most of what she learned foundationally came from her Catholic education at St. Ann School, Ascension of Our Lord School and St. Charles Catholic High School, where she was heavily involved in the Catholic youth programs, such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

It wasn’t until attending a Teens Encountering Christ (TEC) retreat her junior year that the pieces started coming together.

“I think that was when I had this moment where I was like, ‘Oh, you mean me?’” she said. “It’s not that the Lord loves us all in a real general way, but that he loves me in a very particular way.”

From that moment, Hall said a fire had been lit under her. She went on to graduate from Loyola’s Institute for Ministry with a master’s degree in religious education, which landed her a job at St. Mary’s Dominican High School.

Hall said while teaching at Dominican, she learned things, too, and it caused her to grow in her love for learning and digging more deeply into her faith.

“The Dominican sisters were such great mentors for me; they just took me by the hand and taught me so much,” she said. “To this day, I am teaching people about Dominican spirituality.”

Even now as a campus minister, Hall said she is still learning so much about her faith from not only other adults but her students as well.

Match made in heaven

Hall currently leads a flourishing campus ministry program at the University of Missouri, where she works to mentor, support and form her staff and students in their gifts and leadership abilities.

“This job is everything I love to do, from retreats to leadership; it was sort of wrapped up in a bow,” Hall said, who received the job offer after moving to her husband’s hometown shortly after getting married. “We weren’t planning to stay in Missouri, but the Lord has shown me this is where I’m called to be.”

Her favorite part of the job is being able to encourage her students and invite them to consider how they’ve been created by God and what their gifts are, she said.

She emphasized her goal of encouraging students who may feel disconnected from their faith, urging them to persevere.

“I try to help them realize that this is the Christian life; we aren’t going to be perfect, but we get back up because the Lord loves us,” she said. “We have to keep making the commitment to go to church and to pray – this is a lifelong effort.”

Spiritual mother

Hall said she feels blessed to have been put where she is and feels called to love her students as if they were her own.

“The Lord has given me these students to help me embrace my spiritual motherhood,” she said. “I am there to show them the love of Christ and our Blessed Mother.”

Recently, Hall said she has been feeling the love and appreciation of her peers who helped her in receiving this award, and she is still shocked that she was singled out to receive it.

“There’s so many people pouring out so much love on me, it’s kind of overwhelming,” she said. “This is the kind of award that the people I look up to in campus ministry get, so I’m very humbled by it.”

These few months of reflection have opened Hall’s eyes to what just one person’s “yes” to God can do.

“I’m so aware of all the ‘yeses’ of the people that have formed me and come alongside me,” she said. “I want to keep saying yes. I’m not done yet.”

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