"From my experience the line between priest and prostitute is very small. The bonds which hold us together are much stronger than the lines which keep us apart."
-- The Reverend Becca Stevens

Becca Stevens is an Episcopal Priest who has served as Chaplain of St. Augustine's at Vanderbilt University since 1995. It is a growing congregation of students, faculty and staff, as well as community members that see ecumenism and service as an integral part of their faith commitment. Soon after she came, she founded Magdalene, residential communities designed to rehabilitate women with a criminal history of drug abuse and prostitution. To date this entrepreneurial model has raised about five million dollars. Magdalene launched a for-profit cottage industry called "Thistle Farms" in 2001. In 2004 Thistle Farms was distributed in over 60 stores in five states and hosted over 100 salons in people's homes.

Becca was raised in a home where giving back to the community was a high priority. Her mother, the late Anne Stevens, was the director of St. Luke's Community Center in Nashville for many years. Becca has served as a volunteer and board member, currently serving on the NCCJ and the Jubilee Ministry Board. In 1998, Becca led a group of eight students and community members to Ecuador. Now in its eighth year, 25 people, including translators and doctors, will make the annual visit to the Anne Stevens School, to continue to build the community, help with construction, and run a clinic for a 1000 people. The school currently serves 80 students. St. Augustine's has just begun to formalize a partnership with Holy Cross Hospice in Botswana and plans their first trip in the Spring of 2005.

Becca has received awards from many community organizations. She was named Nashvillian of the Year by the Nashville Scene in 2000 and received the Academy of Women in Achievement award in 2001. In 2004 she was given the alumnus award from the School of Theology called the "Dubose Award". In 2004 she wrote a women's bible study for Abington Press and has just finished her second book for Abington, which is called Sanctuary.