So after all this time reading about the joys of PresbyLand, you know you want to work here…. (Please disregard comments from the first paragraph of yesterday’s post. That was my evil twin Delsey who wrote that.) And now, your moment has come—there are no less than three awesome positions that have just opened up for your application pleasure.

The first two come along every year, and are particularly good if you’re just now graduating from college. They are the Young Adult Internships offered by Women’s Ministries every year. The first is in the Office of Women’s Advocacy, working with lovely Associate Molly Casteel. The Women’s Advocacy Internship is great for those of you who are concerned about justice issues surrounding women, and feel called to see how the church addresses those issues. You get to work with the Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns, a group that helps shape the policies of the church’s General Assembly when it comes to women in the church. You also serve as a voice for women’s issues in the larger church, interpreting the PC(USA)’s policies on women to the folks “out there.” If you really want to tackle women’s issues, this is the job for you!

The second internship is in our wonderful office—the Young Women’s Ministries Internship. Working for us means working for the women of both NNPCW and REYWT. And what does that mean? We work with constituents to design and implement events like NNPCW’s Leadership Event and REYWT’s Retreat. We implement the programmatic will of the Coordinating Committee and the Core Group (which means working directly with cool college and racial ethnic young women). Sometimes we travel—the intern may have the opportunity to do the World Tour in the future, and we often send interns to church conferences and events (Brianne just went to Washington, DC). And the intern manages our Internet communications and edits office newsletters like Sisters Together. YOU could be Sophia the Sock Puppet!!!

The final job opening may be a bit of a surprise to you all, and is actually kind of hard for me to tell you about. The last position Women’s Ministries just posted is the Associate for NNPCW—my position. After three years of working with you all, I am resigning on July 21.

I never expected to be around this long, to tell you the truth. When I came to this office in June 2003, I was here for a year-long internship before moving on to graduate school. But that internship stretched into another year-long position, this time as a program assistant while Women’s Ministries recovered from the staff downsizing of 2004. And when Gusti resigned in 2005, it just made sense for me to stick around as the associate. During this time, I have never felt more strongly called by God down a particular path.

But now I’m feeling called in a different direction, due to a variety of circumstances. I finally feel ready to go to graduate school, but not in my undergraduate fields of English or history—I’m going to get a Master of Divinity degree so that I can continue to work in the faith-based non-profit sector, or even teach. My decision to come to PresbyLand in 2003 seemed kind of random at the time, but I don’t think I ever would have considered theological education otherwise.

Some of you may have guessed at the other transition I’m going through right now—David and I have decided to marry. Yup, I’m taking the plunge (perhaps drowning in the details right now is more like it). We will have the wedding on May 20 in my hometown in Washington State. I will then move to the PC(USA) Young Adult Intern Retirement Community in Boston, Massachusetts (three interns I served with in 2003-2004 currently live there, and Gusti is there, too). Either Harvard Divinity School or Boston University’s School of Theology await me.

In all my time with NNPCW, my utmost goal has been to provide stability to the Network in the midst of change. This latest transition is no exception. Mary Elva and I have talked about the transition to new staff for our ministry, and I will be with the Network through both General Assembly and the 2006 Leadership Event in Louisville. We also hope to have the new associate selected before my wedding takes place in May, so that person can attend the Leadership Event and train with me before the end of my time with NNPCW.

If you are out of college and are interested in my position, please feel free to contact me with questions you might have. And for the college women NNPCW works with, know how confident I am in your ability to remain faithful to the work God has given us and the strong, justice-oriented legacy of NNPCW’s ministry. And know that until that day in July, I remain committed to the ministry and mission that we carry out together.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” --Isaiah 49:15-16

Kelsey