Ryan & Erin Walker
College Pastors
Ryan came to Austin from Cypress, Texas in 1998 to attend the University of Texas and stumbled upon a church called Hope Chapel. After 8 months of avoiding his Christian neighbor in the dorm and having people call him in the middle of Hope Group, he found his life interrupted when God revealed himself to him as he read through the book of Luke. After coming to Christ through the college ministry at Hope Chapel in 1999, he was a part of the initial Hope in the City church plant. Since then, he has served Hope 242 in various roles, first as a student leader and later as a part time staff member. He became the college pastor in March 2008 because of his passion to see God touch college students on every campus in Austin.
When Erin moved from College Station in 2001 to attend UT, she longed for more in her spiritual life, and she met a friend from Hope 242 who told her about having a personal relationship with Jesus...and her life was changed forever! Erin and Ryan met that year at Friday Night Worship and started a friendship that led to their marriage in December of 2010. Since 2001, Erin has enjoyed leading and investing in the lives of college students through volunteer and staff positions in Hope 242, and she loves encouraging students to use their gifts and talents to impact the world.
Ryan loves living in south Austin and enjoying all of the wonderful food that Austin has to offer. He especially recommends Torchy's Tacos. He also loves wowing strangers with his skills on the basketball court. Erin likes hanging out with kids of all ages, listening to music, and eating tasty food with Ryan (particularly Wedding Cake snowcones.)