Megan Barta serves as assistant director of worship for freshman with Hope College Campus Ministries, helping create opportunities and community for freshmen at Hope who are interested in employing their creative gifts in the worship arts. As someone who was significantly shaped in faith and trained in leadership by the Hope College worship team, she is eager to open the door to anyone who wants to be involved in such a beautiful ministry in their first year at Hope. 

As a graduate of the Hope Forward program, Megan is excited about opportunities to give back (or give forward) to the college. Her engagement in groups like Student Congress, Nykerk, Hope College Worship, the Saint Benedict Institute, Genesis/Exodus 90, undergraduate research, CASA, TEDx, MSOs, Chapel Choir, the music department, and intramural/club sports positions her with a broad and sweeping knowledge of some of the activity of Hope College students and what is important to them. She can’t wait to harness the passion of musically inclined freshmen to glorify God and serve in and around the campus in the worship arts. 

EDUCATION

• B.A., psychology, Hope College, 2025

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

In addition to her work with Campus Ministries, Megan serves as the office manager for the Hope-Western Prison Education Program (HWPEP). Her introduction to that program was through Campus Ministries: she had the opportunity to visit the Muskegon Correctional Facility with a few other worship team leaders in the fall of her senior year at Hope. Megan’s love of the worship team stems from three incredible years spent singing, playing guitar, and leading with Hope College Worship in Dimnent Chapel. 

WHY I LOVE HOPE

Megan loves Hope because of the way that people at the college know one another and are known. Many of her favorite relationships were born out of long, laughter-filled lunches in Phelps dining hall. She is proud to work for an institution that is making education accessible to anyone who is determined to achieve a degree and use it for good, be that through the Hope Forward program or the Hope-Western Prison Education program. Finally, Megan loves the way that Hope is ecumenically faithful. It is a great joy to her to come to Dimnent Chapel or Saint Anne’s oratory and find her peers, friends, colleagues, and professors all worshiping together. 

OUTSIDE THE COLLEGE

Outside of Hope, Megan is involved in the Pear Tree Society which keeps her reading and thinking about scripture and how to live a faithful Christian life as a young post-schooling adult. She loves reading (especially realistic fiction novels), playing board and card games (Catan, anyone?), swimming in Lake Michigan, and making music with friends.