Ministry Inquiry student thrives in New York City

NEW YORK CITY, New York – Morgan Kraybill got a taste of what pastoral ministry is like when she interned in New York City this summer at Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship. She had been toying with idea of the ministry since she entered Goshen College two years ago.

“People in my congregation, Community Mennonite Church (Harrisonburg, Va.), encouraged me to consider the ministry,” Kraybill said. “They empowered me.” She received more encouragement at the Mennonite World Conference a few summers ago when she participated in the LEAP Program, a leadership development project for youth interested in a spiritual calling.

Kraybill got a final nudge from Jason Harrison, formerly the assistant campus minister at Goshen College who coordinated the Ministry Inquiry Program. He suggested she intern at Manhattan Mennonite and put her in touch with Sylvia Shirk Charles, pastor of the church.

“It was frightening at first [for me to consider] the Ministry Inquiry Program at Manhattan Mennonite, because I don’t have a seminary degree or even many college-level Bible courses under my belt,” she said. “But it has given me an expanded view of ministry.” Kraybill carries a double major of peace, justice and conflict studies and social work, and had intended to minor in religion before she realized that would be too heavy a load.

Shirk Charles involved Kraybill in all aspects of being a pastor, from leading worship, writing the Sunday bulletin and making hospital visits to sitting in on countless

Shirk Charles said Kraybill is a quick learner and a positive presence. “She is a wonderful person,” Charles added. “I have really enjoyed our time together.”

Kraybill lives at Menno House, a 19th-century walk-up in a quiet neighborhood on the city’s east side. Menno House provides housing to church volunteers, nonprofit workers, students and newcomers trying to get a toe-hold in Manhattan.

On July 15, Kraybill delivered her first sermon. It was on Paul’s letters to the Galatians encouraging Christians to be servants of one another.

Kraybill wrote the sermon on her laptop in a coffee shop near Menno House. “It helps me to get away from the normal routine when I write,” she said. Then she practiced it at a nearby apartment complex. “I sat on the grass in the shade of one of the tall buildings. People passing by must have thought I was strange,” she said. “I learned that writing and giving a sermon is a survivable experience.”

As part of her internship, Kraybill has worked with a program that provides an alternative to incarceration, teaching offenders anger management, parenting and nutrition. She also visited a farm where urban kids are learning about gardening and farming as a means of developing self-esteem.

That sort of involvement has her leaning toward the social service side of ministry rather than a pastorate in a congregation, perhaps assignments through Mennonite Central Committee in Africa or Latin America, where she has already spent time. “I’ve got an itch to go again,” Kraybill said. “I want another cross-cultural experience. I like challenges. I like adventure.”

She calls Harrisonburg, Va., home, but Kraybill has lived with her folks in South Africa, from the time she was 2 to 8 years old. “I saw Nelson Mandela from a distance,” she said, “and I had a beautiful British accent.” She spent the seventh grade in India. These travel opportunities happened because her father is an international conflict mediator and peace consultant.

Kraybill would also like to return to New York as Mennonite Voluntary Service volunteer. “New York helps tie together all the countries I have lived in and worked in,” she said. “Besides, Rollerblading across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset was like I was in a movie.”

Kraybill was immersed into the world of the ministry this summer, and apparently even the committee meetings haven’t scared her off.

– by Harley Marshall (Newton, Kan.)

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

###

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.