[ Niebuhr Center ]

How the Program Works

Niebuhr Center participants explore their callings through a variety of academic and co-curricular experiences. You'll take innovative courses taught by experienced teachers. You'll complete internships in the ministry or with organizations that serve society. You might expand your horizons by preaching at a local church or traveling to another country. And you'll connect with teachers, advisers, and mentors who are living out their own personal callings.

Coursework
You'll take innovative courses taught by talented teachers in a wide range of academic departments—including religious studies, English, music, education, business, biology, and nursing. You'll learn how writers like Thomas Merton and Maya Angelou integrated spirituality into their writing. You'll explore how faith communities shaped the Civil Rights Movement and other momentous social transformations. You might study the scriptural foundations for callings to ministry and service.

All courses in the Callings for the Common Good program integrate critical study with your need to explore professional options, in light of your faith or spiritual commitments.

All Niebuhr students must take one of the program's gateway courses—Ministry: Callings and Practice, or Serving Society: Faith Perspectives—before they are eligible for grant-supported internships and international opportunities.

Other courses include: 

• The People and Religions of India (theology)
• Composition: Writing and Professional Calling (English)

For more information about Niebuhr Center courses, see Course offerings.

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Internships
You'll complete internships in the ministry or with organizations that serve society—such as the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the Empowerment Zone of Chicago, Mercy Children's Homes, and the Parliament of World Religions. With financial support from the Niebuhr Center, you'll provide humanitarian service in other world cultures and societies. You'll build affordable homes for families in South Africa — witness how music empowers faith in a congregation in Jamaica — touch the lives of others in meaningful ways—in India, Bosnia, Italy, and elsewhere — and return with a richer understanding of the world and your place in it.

In the process, you'll bring your faith into conversation with the world and learn the skills you'll need to become a leader.

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The Niebuhr Center Ministry Team
As a Niebuhr Center student, you might lead worship services at a local church. That's if you join the Niebuhr Center Ministry Team.

The team was formed when a Niebuhr student was invited to preach at a local church. She asked some of her classmates to help out, and together the group led the entire service. Soon the group had a name and an active worship schedule at churches throughout the Midwest.

Ministry Team members participate because they feel called to lead worship and to share their experiences. One member of the team generally is responsible for preaching; other members read scripture or prayers.

For more information about the Niebuhr Center Ministry Team, please contact Rev. Dr. Ron Beauchamp, director of the Niebuhr Center, at (630) 617-3490 or beauchampr@elmhurst.edu.    

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International experiences and courses
You'll participate in an array of international courses and life-changing experiences that expand your horizons to vistas of need in the world. Niebuhr Center students find their calling through service, study, and cultural exchange in such places as India, South Africa, and Jamaica. From three-week courses to a semester or year abroad, your Niebuhr Center education will be more than academic—it will be an adventure.

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Discussions of faith
You'll connect with teachers, advisers, and professional mentors who are living out personal callings to serve others. You'll participate in thought-provoking retreats, seminars, conferences, and discussions. And you'll hear first-hand the stories of accomplished and inspiring persons whose work is an expression of their faith.

With individuals from diverse spiritual and faith backgrounds, you'll find a common ground of shared values and explore your own calling to better the world.

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