Con Ed I
Practical, hands-on ministry experience to help you sharpen your skills and better understand your call
The Contextual Education I program gives MDiv students an opportunity to explore a wide range of ministries, contexts, social issues, and pastoral relationships beyond congregational settings.
In this first year of Con Ed, you’ll serve in a social service or clinical setting, where you’ll be introduced to frontline ministry in various forms, like working with low-income families to meet their housing and food needs, building relationships with newly arrived refugees, or serving as a chaplain in a prison, medical center, or with the elder population.
At the end of your first year of Con Ed, you will have gained:
- The ability to integrate theological concepts with ministry practice
- Broadened ideas of vocational identity and calling
- An expanded notion of church and of ministry
- Skills for leadership in ministries of justice and reconciliation
If you are in the Teaching Parish or the Episcopal and Anglican Studies program, your Con Ed placement may be different from what’s described here. Please see the pages on Teaching Parish and EAS Con Ed for descriptions of those equally awesome Con Ed experiences.
Con Ed is much more than just volunteering. Here’s what’s involved.
With Candler’s Con Ed, you get more than just hands-on ministry experience, you get a chance to reflect on that experience, plus the guidance of a seasoned site mentor and faculty member. Each week, you’ll spend four hours working at your site and 90 minutes in a reflection group in the fall or 2 hours in an integrative seminar in the spring.
Choosing a Con Ed I Site
There are several factors to consider when choosing your site for Con Ed I.
First, if you’re a residential student, you’ll choose from five partner sites in the metro Atlanta area. If you’re a hybrid student, you’ll identify a clinical or social ministry setting in your own geographical area in conversation with the Office of Contextual Education. Hybrid students will be grouped into themed cohorts for their reflection groups and integrative seminars. Your site placement stays the same for the academic year.
As you consider which site would work best for you, think about which contexts and experiences will allow you to explore your vocational aims and develop skills for ministry. This won’t be your only opportunity to gain practical ministry experience while at Candler, but it’s a great opportunity to dive in and try something new. And don’t forget to factor in the logistics of getting to and from the site as well as the time the reflection group or integrative seminar meets.
Con Ed I Sites for Residential Students
Lee Arrendale State Prison is the largest women’s prison in Georgia and is located an hour north of Atlanta. Students provide pastoral care to incarcerated women, support chaplaincy programs, and assist the chaplain with worship.
Campbell-Stone Apartments provides affordable housing for older adults, with a location in Buckhead (just north of Midtown Atlanta) and another in Sandy Springs (20 miles north of Emory). Students work to develop spiritual care and community programming for residents, including pastoral care, worship opportunities, and group activities.
Regional Youth Detention Centers (RYDCs) are secure short-term centers operated by the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). RYDCs are for youths awaiting trial in Juvenile or Superior Court, or awaiting a community placement more suitable for their needs. As chaplain interns, students assist in establishing hope, a commitment to community, and the duty to care by supporting positive change through youth accountability and responsible youth leadership and service.
New American Pathways is an Atlanta-based nonprofit with the mission of helping refugees and Georgia thrive. Students can choose between two programs: The Bright Futures After School Program, serving elementary school children, and The English at Home program, offering English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring support to refugees.
Toco Hills Community Alliance is a group of faith communities and others working together to help those in need in DeKalb and northeast Atlanta. Con Ed I interns function in a variety of roles, including assisting with packing and distributing groceries, greeting and intake for those receiving services, working directly with volunteers, as well as assisting in locating or developing additional resources.
Con Ed I Cohorts for Hybrid Students
Students in the Justice, Advocacy, and Movement Building Cohort will work four hours each week with organizations and ministries in their local communities that support social and economic development, social justice, and community flourishing through organizing and advocacy initiatives. This work may focus on any of a wide range of social justice issues, including economic justice and labor issues, racial justice concerns, health access, educational equity, environmental and climate justice, or other issues of significance to local or regional well-being.
Students in the Immigrant and Refugee Accompaniment Cohort will work with organizations and ministries in their local communities that provide support for and stand in solidarity with migrants. This work may take a variety of forms, including initiatives that address the immediate material needs of refugee and immigrant communities; support communities through programs or events (such as after-school programs); or affirm immigrants and refugees in exercising their rights through political or social advocacy.
Students in the Food Justice and Sustainability Cohort will work with organizations and ministries in their local communities that address hunger, expand access to nutritious food, build just and sustainable food systems, and care for creation.
Students in the Care in Community Cohort will work four hours each week with organizations and ministries in their local settings that provide care to individuals and groups and cultivate or support wider networks of care, with particular attention to individuals and populations who are vulnerable or in crisis.
Scenes from Con Ed I
Campbell-Stone Apartments
As chaplain interns, Con Ed I students visit with residents of this in-town retirement community.
New American Pathways
Students serve in ministries with refugees and immigrants, either working with elementary school children in an after-school program or working as ESL tutors with older children and adults.
Metro Regional Youth Detention Center
Students are chaplain interns at this center run by the Department of Juvenile Justice, focusing on establishing hope and a commitment to community.
Toco Hills Community Alliance
THCA provides free groceries to the food-insecure. Students are involved in a variety of tasks, including packing and distributing groceries to clients.
Arrendale State Women's Prison
Students provide pastoral care to incarcerated women, support chaplaincy programs, and assist the Chaplain with worship and preaching.
Campbell-Stone Apartments
Cross-cultural and intergenerational encounters broaden the horizons of students serving at Campbell-Stone.
Candler Firsthand
Hear what Con Ed has meant to these students and recent alumni.
“An experience that will stick with me forever happened during Con Ed I, when I was able to go amongst the homeless community of Atlanta. During this time I was prayed over and imparted with a ‘sown seed’ for my life. This moment established in me the many ways God can work.”
David Fitzer
MDiv '23
“I realized that serving at a social service agency like a food bank is not so much about the provision of food, but about nourishing the souls of those we encounter, whoever they might be, and that we must be willing to extend ourselves unselfishly for the benefit of others. To me, this is the purpose of community, and embodies the art of loving a neighbor.”
Barry Lee
MDiv '23
“I wanted a program that was not fully residential, but had the benefits of an in-person education and formation. My favorite parts were an informal gathering after our Wednesday Con Ed class and worship. We would get dinner at a local restaurant and just process our time together. We’ve made so many good memories and theological debate over falafel.”
Emily Badgett
MDiv '24
“An experience that will stick with me forever happened during Con Ed I, when I was able to go amongst the homeless community of Atlanta. During this time I was prayed over and imparted with a ‘sown seed’ for my life. This moment established in me the many ways God can work.”
David Fitzer
MDiv '23
