The Rev. Dr. Travis Helms
After serving with the Peace Corps in Madagascar, Travis attended seminary at Yale Divinity School, then received his PhD in theology and literature from the University of Cambridge. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2017, while serving at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Austin, TX, then served for three years as the Campus Missioner to the University of Texas. In 2018, he founded LOGOS Poetry Collective, a monthly liturgically-inflected reading series that congregated in an east Austin brewery, and now hosts events online and throughout the country. He also serves as an Executive Director of EcoTheo Collective, a nonprofit that offers a variety of programs grounded in the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and art. Travis is the author of Blowing Clover, Falling Rain: a theological commentary on the poetic canon of the American Religion (Wipf & Stock, 2020), and his poems and essays have been published in Image, Poetry Northwest, North American Review, The Austin American-Statesman, and other journals.
In addition to priesting and writing, Travis loves spending time with his wife, Gracie; their daughter, Helen; and their pups, Roo and Bunny. He (and the Helms in general) love hiking, skiing, fishing, climbing, long runs on the trail, and live music. His primary responsibilities at St. John’s include overseeing its children’s, youth, & family ministry, and helping lead the CAMPFIRE community + storytelling series. Travis has a deep love for exploring how creativity can draw us closer to one another, and the divine — and is always eager to catalyze a little conversation over coffee or on the trail.
