Intern Katherine Mickelson leads worship at Fargo First UMC.

Each year, the Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church invites college-aged young adults to explore their call to ministry by participating in an internship through the Elisha Project. Individuals are matched with a local church for the summer (or during the school year) where they can explore different aspects of ministry within and connected to the local church.

Katherine Mickelson, a junior at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, spent 10 weeks of her summer serving as an Elisha intern at First United Methodist Church in Fargo, North Dakota. 

"During my internship, I learned how to be independent and just go and do new things and meet new people. I feel like it is easy as a college student to always go in groups to things, but moving to a city where I didn't know anyone really forced me to be independent," said Mickelson.  

Mickelson is originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she grew up attending First United Methodist Church with her family. She was baptized and later confirmed there. Mickelson was heavily involved in youth group, confirmation classes, and overall she loved volunteering at church.

When it came time to choose a university to attend, Baylor stood out to her for two main reasons. "I came to Baylor because it's a Christian school, and it has awesome sports programs. I am a big sports fan," exclaimed Mickelson.  

At Baylor, Mickelson is studying Political Science and Public Relations, but she has always felt like she wanted to serve the church in some capacity. Mickelson had heard about ministry internships through the Dakotas Conference from her pastor, Rev. Sara Nelson. This year, when applications rolled out, she felt it was the right time to explore how she could incorporate ministry into her future career plans.  

"I was really interested in seeing what it looked like more on a day-to-day basis to be in pastoral ministry in order to see if that was something I could see myself doing," explained Mickelson. "I think it was a great way to see every aspect of what it looks like to be a pastor and see all the behind-the-scenes that people don't always understand." 

During the application process, Mickelson learned that several different churches were interested in hosting an intern. Ultimately, she decided that it would be fun to explore Fargo, North Dakota.  

Katherine helped lead VBS at Fargo First as part of her internship.

"I had actually never been to Fargo, but when I found out that that was one of the options, I thought it would be fun to explore a new city," said Mickelson. "I ended up in Fargo and really enjoyed getting to know the area." 

Another unique experience that Mickelson took on headfirst was living with a member of the congregation during her internship.

"It was so nice that a stranger welcomed me into their house. I really enjoyed getting to know Cindy [Yeager] and her family," Mickelson shared. "She invited me over to family dinners with her extended family, and it really felt like I was adopted into the church... I felt like I was everyone's granddaughter."

One of the goals of Elisha internships is to provide students with a platform to explore not only pastoral ministry, but also their natural gifts and how they can be utilized in the local church. While exploring different areas and responsibilities, students have the opportunity to take on a variety of projects and leadership roles.

Mickelson's first task was to create a meal resource handout for people in the Fargo-Moorhead area, informing them about the different locations where they could access free food. She also enjoyed learning about the sermon-writing process and had the opportunity to plan and direct Vacation Bible School.

"I think it's one thing to give a message in front of a silent church, and it's another thing to be in a room with four- to twelve-year-olds that are giving you constant feedback and are yelling about being hungry," laughed Mickelson. "Getting to interact with them and tailor the message to them every day and adapt in the process was a neat experience, and I feel like it was really valuable. It helped me think about how you communicate with people who aren't as good of listeners." 

Another unique experience Mickelson had during her internship was leading a four-week Bible study. Mickelson created the study called "Live Courageously" to explore what it means to pray boldly, speak with courage, and resist temptation. Each week, the group would read three Bible stories and discuss the different lessons they could take away.  

Elisha interns experience many facets of pastoral ministry.

"We talked about how the scripture applied to our lives, the struggles that friends were facing with cancer, or with health scares, or just losing people, and how we walk through that. I think it was a nice time for everyone to grow closer and to encourage each other to live out our faith," shared Katherine.

Mickelson is still discerning what God is calling her to, but said, "No matter what I do, I'm going to do everything for him."

When asked why she would recommend the Elisha or Samuel internships to someone discerning their calling, Mickelson replied, "I would say you should definitely do it if you're looking to get experience and if you're trying to discern what it is that God is calling you to do. I think it's a great way to see what ministry actually looks like, and I definitely encourage someone to do it for a significant period of time to really get a lot of unique experiences." 

To learn more about discernment, click here. Get more information about Elisha and Samuel internships here.