Where did you learn the ins and outs of your career? Classroom education forms our minds, but time on the job forms our practical knowledge! First Baptist has a long history as a teaching congregation. We regularly welcome seminary and college students gaining practical work experience (keep an eye out for Jordan Manning and Zeke Barton as they serve with the Youth Ministry this summer!). This summer, our ministerial staff will grow by one as we welcome a seminary student from Duke Divinity School, Erica Jackson!
Erica will serve with us as our summer Pastoral Intern from May 26 through August 4. She will teach, preach, care for us, pray with us, and learn from your wisdom. Duke Divinity requires its seminary students to complete two hands-on internships (called “field education”) in churches or nonprofits before graduation. We are fortunate to be hosting Erica this summer as she puts her learning into action!
Erica is a 2020 graduate from the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and Spanish. She worked in public health before beginning seminary at Duke Divinity School in 2022. Erica writes, “My favorite class in seminary has been a course in Hebrew Poetry, because it has helped me become more attentive to the Word of God and resilient in my prayer-life. I am involved with the prayer and youth ministries at my home church in Durham, NC, and am part of the student council at Duke Divinity. This summer, I hope to fall more in love with God as I see how God is moving in and through the community at First Baptist Greenville. I care deeply about the formation of the Body of Christ through prayer and interpreting Scripture, and I am excited to worship, teach and learn alongside congregants and pastoral staff alike!”
Give Erica a warm welcome when you meet her next week, invite her to lunch (seminary budgets are not known for their largesse), share what you love about FBG, and encourage her in her learning! Thank you for being a congregation who invests in emerging ministers and shows hospitality to each new friend.
—Camille Loomis Rehnborg , Minister of Spiritual Formation and Outreach