Meet Reverend Dr. Tracy Hughes, Who Practices Local Ministry in a Global Setting
Although she was always active in her local church as a child, Tracy Hughes was at first on her way to a career in education. But then, her path took an unexpected turn. While pursuing her Master of Education from West Virginia University, Tracy volunteered for a local Presbyterian Church to organize the Junior High Youth Group, and she loved the work. Christian Educator, Susan Easton, was the first woman in ministry Tracy had ever met, and it became clear to her that she was meant to use her background in education to join in God’s work of love in the world.
The Roots of a Global Career
Her drive for working in a global setting led her to Belize, where she volunteered in the Peace Corps. It was there, when a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, turned to Tracy and said, “One day, we’ll be in seminary together.” At the time, Tracy couldn’t imagine how she could be right.
A Unique Seminary Experience
Duty called Tracy home to Tiffin, Ohio when her father passed away. She spent a year helping her mother and working as Christian Education Director at Trinity United Church of Christ. Here, she began to think seriously about ordained ministry. All the local UCC pastors had gone to Eden, and so Tracy packed her bags for St. Louis.
In the second year of her Master of Divinity program, Tracy spent her J-term shadowing the pastor at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Inman, KS, to learn about rural ministry. She returned to Inman, KS, population 900, the following summer to serve the congregation while the pastor was on sabbatical.
In Systematic Theology with Professor John Riggs, Tracy got her first exposure to liberation theology. In her third year of seminary, Tracy became a “Global Mission Intern” and taught at a Global Mission Child Sponsorship School in East Jerusalem. During her time in Palestine, Tracy attended the Arabic-speaking congregation at St. George’s Cathedral under the leadership of the Right Reverend Naim Ateek. After worship each Sunday, she participated in a dialogue on Palestinian liberation theology, where she crossed paths with Christian Peacemaker Teams, now Community Peacemaker Teams.
Here, Tracy found her call: local ministry in a global setting. And since, she has never stopped serving God by serving communities in wartorn countries around the world. She saw clearly that God stands with people experiencing injustice.
“The clarity of my call was and still is faith-based social justice.” – Reverend Dr. Tracy Hughes
Local Ministry in a Global Setting
Her next step was to be ordained as a Mission Worker with Global Ministries to Chiapas, Mexico, where she was an ecumenical worker in the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casa. After Chiapas, she trained with and joined the Community Peacemaker Teams to return to Palestine to stand with communities facing displacement from settler violence, and each morning accompanied children through Israeli military checkpoints on their way to school.
“Frontline peacebuilding – that’s what Jesus was doing in his day. I believe in a nonviolent Christ and I follow the way of Jesus. My ministry has always been anti-war, and pro-Kin-dom of God.” – Reverend Dr. Tracy Hughes
For the next four years, she split her time between Chiapas and Hebron, and finally joined the Christian Peacemaker Team as a full-time member in 2005. She traveled the world, accompanying local peacemakers in places of active war and conflict including Barrancabermeja, Colombia, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, and of course, Palestine.
“During those years I lived in such a way to be available to answer a call to ministry anywhere in the world.” – Reverend Dr. Tracy Hughes
The Human Rights Frontier, Here at Home
Tracy returned to the Midwest and turned her attention to the rights of immigrants living in the US. She worked toward social justice at Su Casa Catholic Worker in South Chicago and BorderLinks, leading delegations studying immigration along the USA-Mexico border. In 2013, she received her Doctorate in Multicultural Ministries from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Still a reservist with Community Peacemaker Teams, Tracy is now the Lead Minister at Mountain View United Church in Aurora, Colorado. She’s been with the church for nine years. Tracy currently focuses much of her preaching on confronting White Christian Nationalism and the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
“How can we be Christian and not confront the powers and principalities of death!?” – Reverend Dr. Tracy Hughes
The ecumenical congregation has been focusing on faith-based social justice. They form deep partnerships with many local nonprofits, creating an inclusive and welcoming space for people of all faith backgrounds. They accompany immigrants seeking asylum in their communities, and provide a safe space as immigrants in Aurora continue to be unjustly targeted by ICE. Through an eighth-year process, MVUC partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build ten duplexes on church property to affordably house twenty families. They also rent space to African Leadership Group (ALG). The congregation and ALG’s newest collaboration is to start Food Connection, a food pantry in the church to support ALG immigrants families. To accommodate members of Muslim faith, they created an interfaith prayer room affectionately known as the “Mini Mosque”. In 2022, Tracy received a Lilly Clergy Renewal Grant for her sabbatical, “Building Bridges in Beloved Community” to Ghana, Senegal, and Tanzania. Visit MVUC’s website to see the full breadth of their work.
“It is paramount to remember the stories of the welcoming of the foreigner. There are many texts in the Bible about welcoming the stranger and caring for the oppressed.” – Reverend Dr. Tracy Hughes
