Written by Cianna Jay // Photo by Balazs Balassa
Sophomores Darcy Grace Durden and Jack Moody began an internship teaching the college class at Downtown Church of Christ this semester. Their role involves weekly lesson planning, picking up refreshments for class, leading table discussions and teaching alongside Dr. Craig Martin, the deacon of college ministry at Downtown, and Dr. Kent Jobe, the minister at Downtown.
Martin said the internship began when he and Jobe decided to focus the college class this year on Biblical teachings about living the good life. He said it is an area of interest for students and an often overlooked topic by the church.
“Once that decision was made, we wanted to find two students who could join us on the teaching team for this Sunday morning class,” Martin said. “Darcy and Jack both demonstrated an interest in campus ministry, a love for God and a desire to help build a community of students exploring the good life together.”
Durden said this internship has been a collaborative process, where Moody and her share the burden equally and have complementary ideas. She also said teaching at Downtown has taught her the importance of preparation.
“It’s taught me that preparation is pretty important, but also that you don’t have to fully rely on your ability or your knowledge, because the spirit really intercedes whenever you’re talking about things like this,” Durden said. “And it is very beautiful how…the spirit is in everyone and is working so well.”
Moody agreed with Durden, saying lessons change with inspiration from the Holy Spirit and other people who add to and strengthen ideas. He cited last week’s lesson as an example.
“This past week we had kind of a set plan of how the lesson was kind of going to go and the trajectory of it,” Moody said. “And when we started to discuss it, it took different turns or people brought up different ideas and concepts that we hadn’t really thought of before.”
This internship has provided an outlet for Moody and Durden to be involved in a lifestyle of ministry, something they both were looking for. Martin offered advice for other Harding students searching for teaching opportunities.
“All Christians, including students, should be involved in ministry, and teaching is one ministry among many,” Martin said. “ I would recommend that any students interested in Bible teaching should pray for guidance, seek the advice of others about whether or not that ministry fits their talents and then, if it seems best, actively look for places to teach with others.”
Durden and Moody’s class meets at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday to discuss the good life and its virtues. The topic this week is faith.
“We’re covering the virtues like love, faith and hope, and we just wrapped up love,” Durden said. “We’re going to talk about what faith is versus what faith isn’t and kind of go into how we can build our faith in everyday life.”
