Angelina Hannum

EDITOR’S NOTE: A church community is created when people gather together for the love of God. At the same time, Saint Philip’s is comprised of many people who represent different ages, life experiences, and world views.

The “In conversation…” series is one attempt to create possibilities for connection between the different people in our community. As varied as we all are, there are also similarities and mutual interests waiting to be discovered. And there is one thing we all share: a desire to know God and be in relationship with him.

This week’s conversation is with parishioner and volunteer Angelina Hannum.

How long have you worshiped at Saint Philip’s?
Our family’s first service was Christmas Eve in 2019.

You didn’t think for a second. How is it that you knew the date so immediately?
Because I remember the experience so vividly. My husband Cam, daughter Aurora, and I came to the 5:00pm service. Aurora was three years old and upon entering the church, Karrie Hendrickson asked if Aurora would bring some stuffed animals to the altar. The service opened with my favorite hymn, “Once in David’s Royal City” and Nathanial Friesen sang. And then to top things off, Fr Peter’s sermon hit me perfectly.

On our way home I told Cam that I thought we needed to be at Saint Philip’s.

What was your experience finding community here?
I filled out a Welcome card because it’s important to connect—and I wanted to connect. We met Tim and Chelsea Bayley and they invited us to sign Aurora up for Sunday School. I’ll never forget seeing her after the first class. She came out of the classroom with flowers and singing a song.

Were you raised in a faith tradition? 
My experience was very evangelical—and eclectic. My family moved from New Jersey to China when I was in 8th grade and I lived there through high school. I attended college in the United States but my parents remained in China for 25 years. My travels to China always included interactions with both the official church, the expatriate church, as well as the underground house church movement.

Can you provide context for that?
Foreigners in China were told they had to worship together. We had Anglicans from Africa, Southern Baptists from Alabama, Spirit-filled charismatics…pretty much every group was represented. We all got along because if we didn’t, there was no where else to worship.

The one thing everyone agreed on was that the worship style was very modern and contemporary. There were rotating worship bands so on the first Sunday of the month the African brothers and sisters would lead singing so it felt like a Black Gospel church. The next Sunday it was a woman from Phoenix who led the singing of hymns.

Which service do you typically attend?
The 9:00am service.

What about Saint Philip’s appeals to you?
The people and the openness. Our experience is that everyone here actively welcomes people. And it’s done in a way that isn’t superficial or artificially fast. That means a lot to me because I’ve been in churches where someone pretends to be my best friend and the next week they’ve moved on to the next newcomer.

How are you involved in the parish?
For the past year and a half I’ve been one of four women who chair the Children, Youth, and Family Ministries (CYFM) Commission. Aurora sings in the choir so I’m at church on Wednesdays, too, and enjoy Mosaic dinners.

What does chairing the CFYM Commission entail?
We support Mtr Taylor to help foster faith, and create and cultivate community amongst the families. We meet regularly and have a really good time working hard. It’s a wonderful group of women.

How do your parents feel about your break with their church tradition?
My parents are very supportive. They’ve always said, “do what you love and love what you do. We want you to be happy.” That’s very rare in the Chinese-American culture.

How does participating as a volunteer contribute to your spiritual growth?
My experience as a younger person was that spiritual growth required that I engage in extremes. I would often ask myself, “Do I water fast for 40 days?” or “Do I give away everything I own?”

Volunteering and being involved at Saint Philip’s has shown me that spiritual growth can be the result of what I do every day—not just the occasional, extreme act. I don’t need to fund a revolution to make change. And my experience on the CYFM Commission has taught me that volunteering can also be really fun. I don’t have to be a martyr.

It sounds as though Saint Philip’s has offered a space for healing. Is that accurate?
It is. Mtr Taylor is very vocal about how the Episcopal church believes that every person—regardless of age—is a full member of the church. That’s different from what I learned.

I love how Aurora is being formed here. She sings in the choir and I very much appreciate how committed Dr Appel is to including the children in the life of the parish through song. That draws people in, too. Nathanial Friesen sang a solo on Christmas Eve and now I’m here.

What do you do professionally?
I’m a dance and movement teacher.

Where do you teach?
Ballet Rincon and I also have my own movement practice called Neuma Wellness Collective.

Ballet Rincon teaches classical ballet to 10-18 year olds. I’m part of the school because I agree with the owner’s philosophy that the first thing we’re doing is meeting the kids as humans. After that we train them to be good citizens and ambassadors of the art form.

And the parents say they learn a lot from interacting with us because we aren’t judgemental.

How did you get involved with ballet?
I was in Taiwan when I saw my first ballet. I happened upon a video that showed a recording of a PBS show. I thought, “What is this????” and my next thought was, “I must do this!” That was my first experience of falling in love.

What about ballet speaks to you?
I think now, what I enjoy is how multi-dimensional it is. Having a great movement practice hits everything at once. It’s my exercise, my art therapy, my meditation. It can be communal and it’s beauty in form. If I stopped dancing and tried to fill my life to get all that ballet gives me, I’d have to do a lot more things.

The best thing about a movement practice is that anything achieved is 100% your own. Your body is the instrument. You can’t cheat it. Every person who masters any kind of movement has done it with themselves. You can’t buy your way into it. You can’t take a short cut. The only way to master it is to do it. There is facility and natural talent but even the most talented person has to go through the motion of using their own body to achieve it.

What do you do just for fun?
Right now I play piano and ride horses.

What are you proud of?
I’m a perfectionist, so it’s hard for me to be pleased with things. But I’ve developed a good skill of being able to pivot. The last few years have been difficult but I channel Scarlett O’Hara and remind myself that tomorrow is another day. If something isn’t going how I planned, then I try something else. Just keep going. If you want to be in the game you have to play. If you sit down—or sit out—you can’t play. And I want to play!

What’s one of your guiding principles?
One of the most grounding bible verses that resonates with me is in the Beatitudes: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.” I’ve had real experiences with the Almighty so my faith in him hasn’t wavered. I’ve always been taken care of, so I just need to remember that I’m taken care of even when I’m going through a trial. Things happen but that doesn’t mean I’ve been discarded or forgotten.

What’s one of your super powers?
When there is a lot of chaos, I’m able to create a flow. I’m good at seeing different points of connection and weaving them together. That reduces the stress and also helps me move beyond the noise.

What’s a fun fact about you?
My name was supposed to be Priscilla but my grandmother couldn’t pronounce the p and the r so my name became Angie. As a young girl I thought Angie was short for Angelina. And when I asked my mother if I could be called Angelina she said sure. So for years I signed everything Angelina. It wasn’t until I filed for our marriage license that I discovered my legal name was Angie—which I then changed legally to Angelina.

Missed an interview? All previous interviews can be found on Saint Philip’s website under the “About Us” tab. Click here to visit that page.