How internships align students’ deeply personal vocations with the needs of God’s world

The ladies of Lost Island Lutheran Church gather each July at Alaire Nielsen’s house. They chop rhubarb, cut butter, and crimp crusts for an annual social that draws more than 160 people from across Palo Alto County, Iowa.

For weeks prior to the event, members of their small but mighty congregation of 30 make requests for chocolate pecan, sour cream raisin, and blueberry crumble pie, among other flaky favorites. The church’s intern, Jessie Hodgson ’25 M.Div., told the cooks he enjoys baking, but his crusts “always fall apart,” despite his best efforts.

So Nielsen invited the “long-haired, skinny boy” to her house one Saturday morning. While her husband, the church organist of 25 years, puttered on the farm, Nielsen watched Hodgson sift and roll in the kitchen.

“Alaire was putting pies in the oven when I arrived,” Hodgson recalled. “She turned to me and said, ‘Now it’s your turn’ and talked me through each step. The crust rolled out nicely and didn’t fall apart. It was a beautiful morning together.”

The next Sunday, Nielsen handed Hodgson a blue ribbon. “She had entered my pie into the county fair, and it won,” he said, beaming. “Now, I am a baker of pies.”

Hodgson’s internship site supervisor, Peter Morlock ’94 M.Div., said many rural churches think they have nothing to offer, “but they do—we do,” he explained. “Rural churches like ours can teach seminarians that pastoral work can look like having coffee or helping in the kitchen. The rhythms of each congregation and community are different, and pastors must lean into opportunities for connection.”

Lost Island does not have the funds to support an intern every year, but the church is committed to being a teaching congregation. “It’s a way to share our gifts of knowing and showing up for others with the wider church,” said Morlock, who also serves Lost Island’s partner congregation, Bethany Lutheran Church in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

Finding the ‘right fit’

Hodgson learned these lessons and more through his yearlong internship as part of the Master of Divinity program at Luther Seminary. He is one of about 50 students at any given time that the Office of Contextual Learning guides through full- and part-time internships at congregations and nonprofits.

Tim Coltvet ’98 M.Div., director of contextual learning, said the office tailors each internship to align students’ personal vocations with the needs and hopes of God’s world. Finding the “right fit” is a thrilling, challenging experience that requires self-reflection, goal setting, and open and regular communication.

“It’s thoughtful, multilayered work that keeps us connected with what’s happening in the classroom but also with the context of our world as we prepare strong, imaginative leaders,” said Coltvet, who has worked in contextual learning for 16 years.

Reflecting Faithful Innovation

Coltvet said a required final project motivates interns to make a lasting mark. “Our students see these projects as opportunities to listen to the needs of the community and ask questions like, ‘What is God up to in this space?’ and then respond with creative expressions of faith in action.”

Hodgson’s final project resurrected an outdoor ecumenical worship that hadn’t occurred in 10 years. “I heard people talk about summer services that happened at a little chapel by a lake, and I thought, ‘Oh, we need to reimagine these.’”

He met with leaders of various denominations in the area, and together they set a schedule to rotate leading these outdoor services.

“They were well attended and rich with tradition,” he said. “I hope they continue, and I love that I keep in touch with many people I met.”

Those close bonds strengthened after record floods in June 2024, when Hodgson joined in recovery efforts, clearing debris and consoling displaced families.

“It was an exhausting time, but I learned so much about the breadth and boundaries of our work,” said the Wisconsin native. “I also learned that I can’t fix everything, but I can still show up and listen.”

Morlock said the congregation learned as much from Hodgson as he learned from them.

“He loosened us up a bit and got us to try new things, and that spirit has continued,” Morlock explained. “Jessie opened the eyes of many. Both churches voted in 2010 to stay in the ELCA, but many members did not support same-sex unions. Jessie was open about being gay. Both congregations embraced him and his partner, Dom, and it was a marvelous gift.”

Coltvet said the office works hard to prepare interns, supervisors, and congregations for potential friction as interns bring fresh ideas about how to discern God’s activity in our midst.

“We enter internship experiences mindful that we do not journey alone,” Coltvet explained. “All involved are intentional partners in the holy work of pastoral identity formation and ministry skill development.”

A Shared Transformation

Alex Theship-Rosales ’24 M.Div. turned heads at his internship site, Grace Lutheran Church in Dawson, Minnesota, when the congregation in “meat-and-potatoes land” learned he is vegan. “I noticed a lot of curiosity, so I started a plant-based Bible study, where we explored earthly themes in the Bible as we enjoyed a dairy- and meat-free meal together.”

Bringing his authentic self led the Minnesotan to Kay and Annette Fernholz, who belong to School Sisters of Notre Dame, an international Roman Catholic congregation. The sisters run Earthrise Farm, a 240-acre homestead that provides educational programs and spiritual opportunities related to organic, restorative agriculture.

“Earthrise Farm seeks to be the holy ground where radical hospitality meets ecological agriculture,” Theship- Rosales said of the farm, which has been in the Fernholz family for 81 years. “The sisters invited me to stay for a sabbath at their yurt and led a poetic, cosmic, and beautiful discussion on the Parable of the Mustard Seed. “The greatest lesson I learned during my internship was to hold assumptions lightly and to be honest and receptive to hearing other people’s perspectives, like the pressures many farmers face,” Theship-Rosales added, as he reflected on conversations with “surprisingly progressive folks,” who shared his deep connection to the earth. “That openness and acceptance is how we grow closer to each other and to God.”

Theship-Rosales, who majored in environmental studies in college and helped start a community garden at Luther, wants to bring his farming experience and exuberance for plant-based eating to cities.

“People living in cities have less regular interaction with the land and the elements, and that can disconnect us from the world and each other,” he said. “I feel drawn to the challenge of welcoming inner cities to learn about and know God through farming and enjoying food in community.”

‘I have one more call in me’

Emily Rova-Hegener ’99 M.Div., a contextual learning associate, said internship sites empower candidates to apply their life experiences and interests to these immersive explorations of faith.

“One of the many gifts of my work is to watch students who have led full careers in other realms bring those gifts to the church,” she said. “I am working with two women who retired after 30 years—one from pediatric medicine, the other from special education. They both said, ‘I have one more call in me,’ and the world is better for it.”

Melinda Moran ’24 M.Div. is among those non-traditional students on her “second, maybe third” career, having worked as a city income tax administrator, a manager for a construction company, and an operations specialist for a school district.

After years of discerning the call to ministry, Moran decided to leave her secure government job because of Luther’s Jubilee Scholarship. “It’s a tremendous gift to give people the opportunity to step out in faith without fear of crippling financial burdens,” she said of the scholarship.

After starting classes, Moran said she was struck by the diversity of faith backgrounds among students at Luther. Those diverse practices and beliefs, Moran said, influenced her internship as a vicar at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“I chose St. Mark’s because it was one of two internship sites with a lead female pastor,” she recalled. “I wanted to be a strong leader, so I wanted to observe and learn from one. Shortly after I arrived, the church welcomed an openly gay associate pastor, and I am a Mexican American woman. Little did I know I would experience such a diverse leadership team in southern South Dakota.”

Welcoming new faces, discovering new passions

Moran said she brought an outside perspective, having grown up and raised her family in a non-denominational church until her son, at 13, was “outed as gay” and not welcome at church.

She felt trusted and empowered to share her views at St. Mark’s. The parish welcomed new faces, Moran said, as they saw themselves represented in church leadership and welcomed in word and service.

“As part of my internship project, I created an Easter vigil service, and because it fell on the National Transgender Day of Visibility, we decided to welcome people in the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies and family,” Moran said. “The ecumenical service started outside with a fire, then transitioned inside with candles and scripture highlighting times when God changed a person’s name. We had a name blessing for people whose names have changed, and we took communion together. It was a beautiful experience.”

The experience also stretched her. Along with other churches of the Sioux Falls District, St. Mark’s co-owns Bethany Home, which provides a full continuum of senior care at two locations. Moran lived in a home near the assisted living facility and spent two days a week providing chaplain care.

“I absolutely loved it,” she beamed. “I met people outside of the church and made lasting connections with dear people who taught me a lot about the history of the area. The experience expanded my view of chaplaincy.

It challenged my perceptions of rural ministry, showing me how much we have in common whether we grew up among skyscrapers or cornfields.”

Rova-Hegener said the Office of Contextual Learning works with each intern, each site coordinator, and the synod of candidacy to establish internship requirements. Students interview and apply before a background check, intensive orientation, and healthy boundaries training. Interns and site supervisors develop a learning covenant, complete three evaluations, and engage in two guided retreats. While the ELCA requires 2,000 hours for M.Div. students and 1,000 hours for M.A. in Lutheran Ministry students, some denominations entail fewer on-site hours.

“We work hard to honor the formation requirements for other denominations. Many have shifted to a semester- long experience of 200–400 hours, but the ELCA maintains that gold standard of apprenticeship to ensure interns are theologically and practically ready for public ministry.”

Internships inform future roles

In January, Moran was named associate pastor for care and community outreach at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cincinnati.

“It’s perfect because I oversee all our care programs and visitation, which I love and feeds my longing for chaplaincy work that I deepened in South Dakota,” Moran said. “The other part of my role is to strengthen relationships with existing ministry and community partners and develop new partnerships.”

Her site supervisor at St. Mark’s, Lori Hope ’96 M.Div., attended Moran’s ordination. “It was tough to see her go, but what an honor to be part of her journey,” said Hope, who has led St. Mark’s for 15 years. “Melinda is one of those people who lights up a room with her generous, loving spirit. She draws people in and truly listens to and honors their stories.

“Melinda was open about her complicated past with organized religion, and I think many people resonated with that,” Hope added. “Our congregation has grown by about 35% in the three years, so we have lots of new faces. Melinda started these Fill Your Cup events, where we would gather for coffee or tea and talk through questions she wrote on cards. This really helped us get to know each other.”

Hope said working with Moran (and St. Mark’s previous three Luther interns) has made her “fall in love again and again” with the job: “It’s an opportunity to reexamine your role with fresh eyes and be reminded why you got into this work in the first place.”

The interns’ “dream-big attitude,” Hope added, pushes congregations to imagine new possibilities or revisit ideas they talked themselves out of due to perceived barriers or past resistance.

“The interns have all brought different gifts, which reminds us that we all have gifts to share. One intern loved tennis, so he held a tennis camp instead of a traditional Vacation Bible School. They still talked about Bible stories, but he added his own unique twist,” Hope said. “Melinda really connected with people holding religious trauma and taught us how wonderful it is to get to know each other in deep, meaningful ways.

“Internships truly bring out the best in us all—the interns, who are given time to soul search and learn and try faithful experiments, but also the congregations and communities who welcome them.”