When Duke students think of summer internships, they usually think of working in D.C. with policy, in New York City with media and advertising or at a technology or pharmaceutical company. There are even numerous grants and fellowships students can apply to to help fund these summer adventures. This past summer, however, the Chapel sponsored the Pathways Program, a different sort of internship altogether.
This was the inaugural summer for the eight-week long program, an internship that placed nine Duke Students at positions in local churches and faith-based non-profit organizations. The program is funded by a five year grant the Chapel received from the Lily Foundation and is designed to help undergraduates discern their vocation as it relates to their faith.
"People in their campus fellowships get their spiritual formation there, but Pathways is a program that will take them out into the community to carry out social justice ministries and the sharing of the Gospel," said Reverend Regina Henderson, the program's director. The program is a way for students to explore different types of Christian ministry from being a full-time pastor to running a community service center she explained.
About two dozen churches and community organizations were invited to apply to receive interns from the program. Reverend Henderson then worked with the student interns to find an organization that fit the students' interests in ministry. Ultimately, five churches and four faith-based non-profits were assigned interns from the program, which satisfied the nine interns who wanted to participate.
The churches and non-profits applied to receive interns mostly because they wanted to provide Duke students with the opportunity to work in the type of ministry they provide.
"I'm a Duke Divinity alumnus and I remember it was hard to find field placements in a Pentecostal church when I was a student," said Reverend Herbert Davis of the Nehemiah Christian Center. "I wanted to create that type of opportunity for current Duke students."
Some students applied because they felt they had been called to ministry but did not know what kind specifically. Others applied out of a desire to learn how their faith can be an active part of their careers.
"I've always thought of ministry as being a pastor at a church," said Kori Jones, a Trinity Junior who interned at Durham Urban Ministries. "I learned you can do ministry in other ways than being a pastor, in taking time to talk with someone, to smile and wave here and there. It's the little stuff that's very important."
The interns lived in graduate student apartments on central campus. They ate meals together regularly and participated in group activities such as a Durham Bulls game, bowling and a climb to the top of the Chapel. During the week, they were expected to work 30 to 35 hours at their internship sites. The work they did ranged from answering phones and folding church bulletins to planning fund raising events and giving sermons on Sunday mornings. On Wednesday nights, the interns would gather to reflect on what they were learning in their internships and in their spiritual lives.
"It surprised me how these students of different denominations could live together and have theological discussions where they agreed to disagree while still building a close community," said Reverend Henderson.
"We had people working in Episcopalian, Methodist, Pentecostal and Presbyterian churches as well as non-profits. This made our discussions interesting with the different perspectives in the group," said senior Adam Hollowell, who interned at Reconciliation United Methodist Church, a multi-cultural and multi-racial church.
The program seems to have been uplifting for both the internship supervisors and student-interns.
"It was wonderful that we received a student willing to work with our program and not only that, but one who was willing to contribute uniquely," said Reverend Larry Johnson of Reconciliation. "Every summer we do a multi-racial camp and in addition to the kids having fun, Adam thought it would be good if the kids contributed to the community through service as well. So we took the kids to a nursing home and volunteered for a few hours."
Jones said the internship was a good fit for her because it was a way of combining several aspects of her life. "I worked mostly with the kids and I can see myself in teaching as a ministry now. I'm interested in education and ministry so this was the best of both worlds."
Though the grant from the Lily Foundation is only for five years, the long term continuation of the Chapel Pathways Program has become a goal of the Chapel congregation. "The program reaches students' spiritual needs and is filling a void in the Chapel life at Duke," said Reverend Henderson.
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