How Harvard Divinity Students Share Their Ministry Beyond the Classroom
For MDiv students, Julio Daly, Elijah Gipson-Davis, Sabbi Lall, and Craig Rusert, the HDS field education program was a time of spiritual care, leadership, and application.
In the second or third year of the master of divinity program at HDS, students become practitioners integrating theoretical perspectives with the experience they gain in ministry settings across hospitals, academic institutions, churches, and nonprofit organizations through the HDS Field Education Program. There are approximately 100 accredited field education sites affiliated with HDS that allow students to foster intellectual, ministerial, and personal growth.
We invited current students to reflect on their field education placements, how they chose them, and what experiences they will be taking with them as they continue to discern their ministries. Reflections have been shortened for clarity and length.
Julio Daly, MDiv ’26, Intern at Center for Support for Immigrant Organizing, Boston, MA
My field education placement was at the Center for Support for Immigrant Organizing (CISO). I worked alongside Haitian, African, Brazilian, and Latin leaders, supporting projects in resistance strategies, food security initiatives, and participatory budgeting. It was a tense time, of course. I was called to this placement because I'm an immigrant from an authoritarian country and wanted to be involved with the work at this time. Before coming to the United States, I had worked for several years doing policy to facilitate the integration of Venezuelan migrants in different countries of Latin America.
One of my favorite moments of the internship was leading participatory budget workshops with Latin teens. We talked about what it means to participate politically as immigrants and why it is important to make a home where we are now. These teenagers were so engaged, smart, and passionate. Together, we came up with proposals that were not only grounded in reality but were inspirational. I left having the sense that the Latin youth in the diaspora will lead to a promising future for our countries.
Elijah Gipson-Davis, MDiv ’26, Minister of Administration and Pastoral Assistant at Myrtle Baptist Church, Newton, MA
My field education placement was at Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts—a historic, welcoming, and affirming Black Baptist congregation with a deep commitment to worship, education, and social justice. As minister of administration and assistant to the pastor, my responsibilities have been both pastoral and organizational. I assist in worship planning, preach regularly, coordinate church ministries, and help manage the administrative systems that support Myrtle’s mission. I have also led initiatives in Christian education and worked closely with the pastor and lay leadership to strengthen communication, community partnerships, and member engagement.
I felt particularly called to this placement because of Myrtle’s dual identity as a historic Black congregation and a progressive faith community. Its legacy of resilience and inclusion resonated deeply with my own theological commitments to liberation, education, and affirming ministry. Coming from a Baptist background, I wanted to learn how to lead within a context that honors tradition while embracing change. Myrtle’s setting offered the opportunity to live into that call—balancing pastoral leadership, administrative stewardship, and theological reflection in a community that embodies both faith and justice.
This experience taught me that effective ministry requires both structure and spirit. I’ve learned the importance of administrative systems that allow a congregation’s spiritual life to flourish, and the necessity of cultivating relationships that ground every program in genuine care. Above all, I discovered that leadership in the church is a collaborative act of listening—to God, to people, and to the rhythms of community life. This placement has clarified my sense of vocation as both a pastor and a scholar committed to nurturing healthy, faithful, and forward-looking Black churches.
Elijah Gipson-Davis, MDiv ’26 and a church leader at Myrtle Baptist Church | Photo Courtesy of Elijah Gipson-Davis
Sabbi Lall, MDiv ’26, MIT Radius, Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at MIT, Cambridge, MA
For my field education experience, I was placed at MIT Radius, which is part of the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at MIT. My role ranged widely, from one-on-one conversations with students over coffee to organizing panels and events and representing MIT Radius at seminars and events related to current issues, such as ethics surrounding AI development.
I really wanted to build a bridge connecting scientists and engineers to discussions around discernment and practices, such as meditation and reading, that might provide support. I also felt that there was deep meaning in creating connections, for example, through a large workshop where we brought scientists and journalists together to discuss their work. I saw just how siloed academia and professional life can be, but that we can build bridges across such gaps.
Photo courtesy of Sabbi Lall
A workshop Lall organized focused on bridging the gap between biomedical research and communities. | Photo Courtesy of Sabbi Lall
Craig Rusert, MDiv ’27, Multifaith Chaplain at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
As a multifaith chaplain intern at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), I was able to bridge the gap between my own personal and academic understanding of how to offer spiritual care. In addition to patient encounters that expanded my heart and mind, I was able to start a weekly interfaith music service with the spiritual care team, where we accompanied patients and staff with music as they shared prayers and poems.
During my early-to-mid-twenties, I was a caregiver for my mother and accompanied her at every chemotherapy and medical appointment she had until she passed away of breast cancer. From the moment I heard about DFCI, I knew I wanted to do field education there, as it spoke a language I was very familiar with. In those patient rooms and halls, I went to the depths of my soul, cried my eyes out, and experienced life-changing conversations. During patient visits, I would ask myself: “What do I wish someone told my mom when she needed help?”
Taking classes at HDS is truly a gift, and what one chooses to take can have a profound effect on their field education experience. Once onsite, I recognized how valuable the spiritual care courses I took were in preparing me for the multi-faith landscape I was entering. I experienced a merging of theory and praxis while maintaining healthy boundaries, meeting patients where they were at, and seeing first-hand how there is a deep need for spiritual care.
Photos courtesy of Craig Rusert