Bethel students gain hands-on ministry leadership experience through grant
By Heather Schnese S’12, content specialist
September 15, 2026 | 9:15 a.m.
Through the Foster Leadership in Communities of Faith grant, Bethel is partnering with local churches and faith-based organizations to provide subsidized internships where students gain hands-on ministry experience, receive mentorship from ministry leaders, and participate in vocation and leadership formation with Bethel faculty.
For Ella Sushka ’25, that opportunity led to Rose Hill Alliance Church in Roseville, Minnesota, the congregation she had already called home for about a year.
Sushka, who graduated in December 2025 with a degree in missional ministries and minors in biblical and theological studies and psychology, spent much of her internship serving in youth ministry. She taught spiritual formation practices, led a small group of high school students, organized a youth service night, taught children, and worked on missions mobilization efforts and partnerships. She also participated in weekly staff meetings and met individually with her pastor for spiritual formation and leadership development. And she preached for the first time.
The range of experiences was intentional. Erik Leafblad, chair of Bethel’s Department of Biblical and Theological Studies, says the initiative was designed to give students substantive opportunities to practice ministry while learning alongside experienced pastors and leaders. “It is a rare undergraduate internship experience where the students get to actually practice the full gamut of pastoral ministry in a mentored way,” Leafblad says. “They are, in effect, called to be pastoral residents in these congregations.”
Bethel received the grant through the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) to help students explore pastoral ministry and other forms of ministry leadership. Six Bethel students participated during the initiative’s first year, and another six will participate during its second year.
Bethel selected ministry partners where students would have opportunities to practice pastoral care, preaching, administration, and leadership while developing close relationships with pastors who could help them explore questions of vocation and calling.
“We wanted places where our students would have the chance to really pastor and lead people—a kind of residency of sorts,” Leafblad says. “We hoped both in terms of ministry practice and formation that a relational framework would guide the experience for students.”
— Ella Sushka ’25
Through the Foster Leadership in Communities of Faith grant, Ella Sushka ’25 gained hands-on ministry experience at Rose Hill Alliance Church in Roseville, Minnesota.
For Sushka, that relationship-based approach made Rose Hill a place where she could try new things, grow as a leader, and better understand her gifts. “Rose Hill is a congregation that has shown me what it is to receive and to celebrate people well,” Sushka says. “I have been able to step into new spaces, try new things, and by that discover more of my vocation, calling, and gifting.”
Those discoveries included a love for the local church, an interest in pastoral ministry, and a gift for teaching. Through mentorship, discipleship, and opportunities to lead, Sushka says she also grew personally and spiritually. “I have been formed into a person who can enter ministry with a healthier soul,” she says.
The experience built on the formation Sushka received at Bethel, where professors, mentors, and friends accompanied her as she considered God’s call to pastoral ministry. At Rose Hill, she found another community willing to affirm that calling and give her opportunities to put it into practice. “I can finally say that I am starting to truly believe that I have a place in the church, and that my voice is both needed and welcomed,” Sushka says.
— Erik Leafblad, biblical and theological studies department chair
That kind of discernment is at the heart of the grant, Leafblad says. Rather than simply completing tasks or meeting degree requirements, students are invited to take meaningful responsibility within congregations that recognize their potential for ministry. “These churches are saying, ‘Yes,’ to what God is up to in these students as God continues to work in their lives,” Leafblad says. “That’s a unique and powerful relationship, and it’s a joy to get to see it happen.”
The initiative also gives students space to consider forms of ministry they might not have imagined for themselves. “The main goal for students is a deeper sense of who God is shaping them to be through an opportunity to really step into real ministry practice alongside thoughtful and reflective pastors and leaders,” Leafblad says. “Quite tangibly, our hope is that some of these students would say yes to pastoral ministry.”
For Sushka, that discernment is already shaping what comes next. Upon completing her internship at Rose Hill, she moved to Omaha, Nebraska, to begin a two-year residency at Christ Community Church. There, she will work in college ministry while earning a Master of Arts in ministry leadership. Her next step continues a process that began at Bethel and grew through a congregation willing to give her room to lead.
“Rose Hill has been a place where my calling and gifting has been affirmed and confirmed,” Sushka says, “where it has taken deeper root in me, and where I have gotten to begin to live it out for the first time in confidence.”
Discover where your calling can take you
In Bethel’s Department of Biblical and Theological Studies, you’ll gain the knowledge, hands-on experience, and mentorship to explore your calling and prepare to serve with purpose. Explore Bethel’s ministry programs and discover how you can turn your gifts into meaningful work.