Jason Storbakken (’21) featured in “Bearing Witness to Miracles”
The following is an excerpt from Anabaptist World news article “Bearing Witness to Miracles – Spiritual Journey led to ministry where ‘everyone is getting saved one way or another” by Hannah Keziah ft Alumnus Jason Storbakken (’21), published January 30, 2026.
On a gray Monday morning in Manhattan, Jason Storbakken is smiling. We meet at a coffee shop at the intersection of Bowery and Prince, across from The Bowery Mission, where he works as a chaplain.
He’s just finished a chapel service, leading about 70 unhoused people in prayer and meditation. Each weekday he rides his bike from Brooklyn to the Bowery to pray with his congregants, making sure they are nourished physically and spiritually.
“This place is for mutual transformation,” he says of The Bowery Mission, one of the oldest nonprofits in New York City. “Everyone is getting saved one way or another.”
“Even as an angsty teen challenging them, I knew they loved me,” he said.
Storbakken’s grandfather was raised Mennonite Brethren. His grandfather’s grandfather was Hutterite, a communal Anabaptist group. Stories of his ancestors’ spiritual legacy grounded young Jason. He grew up feeling rootless, moving around a lot, even being homeless with his mother for a while in middle school. But knowing his lineage went centuries deep gave him a deeper sense of self.
Feeling called to Christian ministry, Storbakken enrolled at Union Theological Seminary. He earned a master of divinity degree and later a doctor of ministry, writing his dissertation on A Liberation Theology of Sabbath (Boston University School of Theology).
“The decline of the church, to me, isn’t about graying congregations or dwindling membership numbers,” he said. “It’s about the Spirit moving into new spaces, third spaces, like cafés, galleries and community centers, wherever people gather to authentically connect.”