Check Out Anastasia (Stasi) McAteer’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anastasia (Stasi) McAteer.

Hi Anastasia (Stasi), please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Santa Cruz, California, but raised in the Midwest. I moved back, at age 21, landing in LA to work in the film industry. After five years there, I worked at USC for another five. I then went on to graduate school, getting an MDiv (the “pastor” degree), and starting a PhD – at the same time my daughter was born. She (and my son 2 years later) wound up being more important, so I put academia on the back burner.

I spent the next several years raising my kids, while also doing side jobs writing for church publishing houses and taking speaking engagements. Our family moved to San Diego in 2013, and to Ocean Beach the next year. In OB, I found an amazing community of like-minded neighbors who wanted to share life and love our town. I began to use the skills I’d learned in seminary to serve, build community, and offer spiritual care. Some neighbors even started calling me “The Vicar of OB,” referring to the old traditional title for a parson serving a general area, rather than in a traditional church.

For four years, our family hosted dinner every Friday night in our home for anyone who was hungry for food or connection. I volunteered at the OB Library and at my kids’ schools, as they progressed from OB Elementary up through Point Loma High. I’ve been very active with the public school music programs in particular, because I was a band kid myself, and I believe so strongly in the power of those groups to give us a sense of belonging while bringing extra beauty into the world. My life will shift dramatically in the next couple of years as I become an empty nester, but for now, I love being the parent who shows up to all the things and loves on all the kids!

Today, I am doing community engagement work for Love Thy Neighborhood, a non-profit dedicated to serving the peninsula, and Resurrection OB, a local church plant. I’m also part of grant-funded teams, including the Lilly Endowment’s Young Adult Initiative and the USC Center for Religion & Civic Culture’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. And I keep on trying to be a “known character” in my neighborhood – living into the “Vicar of OB” idea, to love everybody here and help out as much as I can.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My life has definitely taken many twists and turns. I moved to California to become a famous actress, but it turned out they weren’t hiring for the role. I went to graduate school to become a pastor, but I couldn’t find paid work in a church for many years. I never thought I wanted kids, but being “just a mom” has been the most challenging and rewarding job I’ve ever had. I was on the team behind the Spiritual Journey Center on Newport Avenue, but we couldn’t sustain our space financially. Covid upended all of my volunteer work, and snatched away my greatest joy: offering hospitality in my home. When I finally got a job working for a church, Water’s Edge, it was shut down shortly thereafter. As a self-assured, intelligent woman, I’ve run up against jealousy, suspicion, and personal and professional roadblocks. I have sought to learn from each experience, both introspectively and interpersonally, to take the lessons into the next venture.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
A little over a year ago, a new Episcopal church in OB, Resurrection, asked me to come on board as their Community Engagement Coordinator. In this role, I work to connect my neighbors with the resources of our campus (such as rooms to rent), offer events to build community and generate conversations around justice (such as our Cinema of Resistance series), and engage our congregation in serving the neighborhood (such as our bi-monthly Share Fair clothing swaps and Halloween Parent Pit Stop).

I also work for a national networking organization, Parish Collective, which exists to connect people to be the church in the neighborhood. This fall, they sponsored OB’s contribution to International Play Music on the Porch Day, a celebration of grassroots artistry that took place on my front lawn. Around 100 friends, neighbors, and visitors stopped by to enjoy local music, brews, and snacks.

I feel most in my element when I’m creating events like Porch Day or Night Out On Newport (a collaborative “pub crawl”-style concert involving several OB businesses and two local school music programs). I’ve been called a “master convener,” and I feel like that’s the best compliment and explanation of my gifts. I love to rally my relationships with entrepreneurs, students, artists, and neighbors to connect everyone to something greater than they can do alone. This is why I work for a church now, too – because I believe all of us are part of a bigger story beyond ourselves, and when we join that flow, we find our life’s true purpose.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My community matters most to me. My family, because they’re who I want to be with the most. My friends who have stuck by me, and who love me for who I am (even in spite of it!) – they are deeply treasured. I love my kids’ sweet friends. I am honored to be part of a large and diverse family of faith: at church, among clergy colleagues, and with fellow community development practitioners across the city and the nation.

I am extremely fortunate to be on professional teams that celebrate and value what I bring to the table; it means the world to me I am encouraged to be fully myself and engage my work passionately (even when it is “extra”!). I care most about bringing people together in a common worthy cause, and nothing makes me happier than being given opportunities to serve in this way.

Above all, I relish being part of the special neighborhood of Ocean Beach, involved in so many groups doing wonderful things in the world – from Resurrection to Love Thy Neighborhood to the OBMA to the Peninsula Faith Leaders. I am just so grateful to live in a place that I love with all of my heart, and to be surrounded by neighbors who feel the same way, and want to work together to love our town well!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @vicarofob
• Facebook: @stasigrace
• LinkedIn: @anastasiamcateer
• Other: www.resurrectionob.org, lovethyneighborhood.world, and www.parishcollective.org

Image Credits
All photos are mine