The Compass Center

by Grace Langford

I worked at First Congregational United Church of Christ as the Just Peace intern. First Congregational Church passed a covenant last January to become a Just Peace church but wanted to know how to fully embody their Just Peace covenant better. Therefore, they decided to hire a Just Peace intern. In August, I decided to make the challenging career decision to change from actuarial science to management consulting. When I started my internship, the lead pastor, Pastor Sarah Lund, was so kind to allow me to set up my internship like a management consulting engagement, thus allowing me to have hands-on experience in my new field. I read many books about management consulting as well as about just peace while attending church and meetings with the First Congregational congregation.

One of my favorite parts of the internship was conducting informational interviews, a fancy management consulting term used to describe getting to know and gather information from people. I enjoyed coffee and lunch with many incredible people with fascinating life stories and a genuine heart for people. In addition, I collected data from surveys and spent ample time at the church getting to know the ins and outs. On my last day, I presented an hour presentation to the congregation with three actionable changes that reflect the feedback and church’s desires.

Another highlight of the internship was attending the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare Conference at Princeton Seminary. Eighty religious leaders gathered to be educated and to learn how to educate others on the injustice of drone warfare. I so enjoyed the opportunity to talk to so many people from different religions, faiths, communities and geographic locations in the United States. While we were all so different, we united on justice and advocating against drone warfare.

This internship allowed me to look at vocation in a new light. For one, I had the opportunity to test out a new career and discover my love for it. At the same time, it allowed me to see the multiple facets of vocation to discover it is not just tied to the job title of our employer. Instead, it is a lifelong commitment to work and to bettering the world around us. I saw this beautifully displayed in so many retired members of the congregation who had different careers but work dutifully for the church and to serve the Indianapolis area. Overall, this internship has been integral not only in my liberal arts education, my career, but also my personal growth this semester. Thank you to the CFV and First Congregational for your support and engagement!

Last Thursday, on the last day of All in Week, the CFV partnered with the Center for Interfaith Cooperation as well as the Spirit and Place Festival to screen the latest film in the New View Series, “Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story.” 

This film explores the life of one of the most important religious figures of the 20th century, Howard Thurman. Thurman was the grandson of slaves, and eventually became a spiritual leader for the Civil Rights Movement. He also inspired many influential Civil Rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr.

The film also discussed how Howard Thurman was a Mystic, and had a great respect and interest in nature, non-violent social action, as well as learning about other religious traditions. He famously traveled to India in 1936 in what was known as a “pilgrimage of friendship.” While there, he visited Mahatma Gandhi who was also advocating for nonviolent action.

In the spirit of Thurman’s interfaith work, Thursday’s event began with three prayers from Butler students of different religious traditions: Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu.

After the event, the audience was treated to a panel of two local religious leaders who knew Howard Thurman himself, Reverend Brown and Bishop Roach. They discussed Thurman’s hypnotizing, slow, and deliberate way of speaking, and how he was such an important figure in influencing the Civil Rights movement.

Audience members joined the discussion to reflect on Thurman’s influence, and how his ideals and values can be applied to social justice issues today.

Thank you to everyone who attended the film screening and participated in the discussion! We hope to see you at our next film, “The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton—By Morgan Atkinson” on January 23. The film director, Morgan Atkinson, will be attending our event and will be hosting the discussion afterwards.

by Maggie Kieffer

When I walked into the first day of my internship with the Project GRACE Help Desk, I was just kind of thrown into the work. Over the course of the semester I have had the privilege of helping some really patient, kind, wonderful people; and when I had to deal with someone who was less kind or less patient, I took a deep breath and realized how incredibly overwhelming that first day learning about expungement was for me. And I’m a college-educated adult who wants to go into this profession. I always try to think about the process from the perspective of the person on the other side of the desk. These individuals – often African American men and women or poor white individuals – made mistakes within a system that doesn’t always work in their favor. Often times, I have heard stories about men and women who were charged with crimes because of their economic status or race, rather than on the credibility of their character. I have even seen black men come in with the same crimes as white men, but charged with higher level convictions on a first-time offense than a routine white offender. I have been confronted with errors in the system I want to enter professionally for the rest of my life. And, now that my semester is over, I am faced with the fact that I am one step closer into being a part of the system. This mentality of looking at a legal problem from the accused persons’ or convicted persons’ eyes is something that will forever impact my life, and I have this internship with the CFV and Help Desk to thank for that.

by Madeline Mleziva, ’21

This semester I have interned as the Center for Faith and Vocation’s Communications Intern. This Internship has given me the opportunity to experience many programs on campus and learn many new skills. My favorite part has been the chance to work with and assist many different outreach programs. Typically, my main means of assistance has been through creating posters and flyers for the various programs sponsored by the CFV. While I didn’t coordinate and plan an entire program, it was exciting to have the ability to have many small impacts on a variety of programs. One of my favorite projects was creating the posters for the First Friday at Four. I enjoyed this project so much because I also got the opportunity to attend the event each month and see all the people that came. Seeing the people attend was exciting because it became evident that my marketing and design efforts were paying off. My other exciting project has been creating a video to promote the new prayer, meditation, and reflection rooms in Jordan Hall. This project has proved some difficulty in getting students to answer emails and follow up. Even though it has been difficult to gain much assistance from students, it has been very exciting to have the creative freedom to create any sort of video I want. The video is still in the production process but hopefully it will be finished and online soon. Overall, this internship has allowed me to refine my design and production skills while also giving me the opportunity to participate in many different programs and outreaches. I’m very thankful for all the opportunity and experience the CFV has awarded me this semester.

by Kylene Warne, ’20

As an Elementary Education and Theatre major, my internship at Catholic Charities proved to be a unique and profound experience. I served as an Education intern through the Outreach and Education program and was in charge of planning and leading English classes held and two different community centers two days of the week, as well as providing in-home tutoring one day of the week. Because my courses are focused on child and teenager education, I have not had the opportunity to work with and teach adults. This internship was able to provide me with this experience that came with its perks and challenges. At first, I felt hesitant and unsure, as I did not know how to approach this age group and alter my lesson plans to fit a more mature audience. After the first few lessons and getting to know my students better, I was able to see what learning preferences this group had and how willing they were to learn and try new approaches. I now feel more comfortable and confident teaching all age groups, as well as in myself as a teacher. Since I had so much freedom to create a curriculum and had not finished my Education major yet, I originally felt as if I was doing everything wrong. I quickly realized how much knowledge I had acquired throughout my classes and other teaching experiences and that I do not need my license in order to help and make an impact on a community of people. I am so thankful for my bosses and students for allowing me to experiment with this learning journey and being open to all of my ideas.

by Lyla Iannaconne, ’19

This semester, I have been fulfilling an internship at Trinity Free Clinic in Carmel, IN doing marketing.  The clinic is a catholic, non-profit organization with a mission to provide free medical and dental care to uninsured and underinsured people in the Hamilton County area.  Not only do they want to provide these services but also provide them with an unparalleled level of respect, kindness, and dignity.

My role at the clinic this semester has been deeply intertwined in their annual fall fundraiser, the Run for Wellness.  The Run for Wellness is a 5K, 10K, and 15K race. The event includes the race and an expo where sponsors and vendors can promote their products and services. I’ve gotten the opportunity to run the social media for the race, promote the event, and manage the race day.

Not only did I receive experience in marketing but I also got to feel what it’s like to work in a wonderful, welcoming organization.  Every person working at the clinic is genuine, friendly, and happy to help with any problem.  I am so grateful that I got to know and work with my supervisor, the director of marketing, Autumn Zawadzki.

Thanks a million to TFC!

by Marissa Glantz

Interning at the JCC was a good way to dip my foot in the water in regards to the professional world and the internship world. I gained a lot of valuable hands-on experience in the marketing department. As the marketing intern I got the opportunity to work on a variety of projects. One thing I learned throughout my time here is the value of teamwork in a workplace. Having coworkers who I could collaborate with and rely on was extremely beneficial in my learning process. When given projects by my supervisor, there were some times where I had little questions or needed guidance in finding particular files and my colleagues were always happy to assist me. Another thing I learned was the business side behind social media ads. I obviously knew that my Facebook and Instagram had ads that were targeted directly towards me, but I got to be on the other side of that process and create ads and target them towards a particular public. This was really cool to see all of the features, options and statistics that go behind ad tailoring. It definitely assured my interest in the creative advertising field.

Throughout the second half of the semester I worked a lot on the Ann Katz Festival of Books and Arts marketing. The social media posts I did for the JCC gained a lot of publicity for the festival that showed through the number of tickets purchased. . I enjoyed getting Facebook users to interact through the various postings. It was fun to do something I normally do (post on social media) but from a business marketing side. Overall, thanks to this internship, I feel like I will be more comfortable and confident as I move forward in my career.

by Rachel Koehler ’19

My name is Rachel Koehler, and I am a senior at Butler University studying International Studies and French. I have had the privilege of working with the Center for Interfaith Cooperation for the fall semester, and it has encouraged me to further consider a career in faith and social justice. This past semester I have been able to interact with Indianapolis’s diverse faith community in numerous ways from board retreats to podcast recordings and community events. The CIC’s board consists of 38 members with various faith perspectives, and I wanted to further explore the stories that each of these members brings to the CIC. These different backgrounds enrich the mission of the CIC, so I thought it was important to record them and make them available to the public. Also, to attract a younger audience to the CIC, I thought podcasts would be a great medium to use, since more and more people are starting to listen to them. My goal is to have the podcast available by the beginning of next semester. I have already interviewed several members and will continue to do so next spring. Each interview has given me a new perspective, so I am hoping it will do the same for any listener. Please look out for it on Apple, Spotify, or www.centerforinterfaithcooperation.org. I am still deciding on what title I want, but I am leaning towards “An Ear to Interfaith” or “The Dynamics of Interfaith.”