About

As a Fellow you’ll be living with a host family, a core part of the Fellows experience. These families demonstrate hospitality by welcoming fellows into their homes as participating members of the family. The families provide loving care and informal mentoring. Meanwhile, the fellows see the family’s faith in action during nine months of real life in a Christian home. Incredible bonds are often formed, and fellows grow by experiencing family dynamics that are different than their own.

Fellows complete one graduate-level course at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS). This course is called “Biblical Wisdom for Fellows,” and its purpose is to deepen understanding of God’s Word found in the Bible and its communication through the theological traditions of the Christian church.  This study will consider the historical witness of the Christian church, the unique contributions of the Reformed tradition, and the current state of theological study and pastoral vocation.  This course is taught by the RTS-DC President, Dr. Scott Redd, who is a Teaching Elder at Fourth.

Christians are not only called to follow Jesus as disciples – we are also commanded to make disciples (Matt 28:16-20). All fellows therefore serve weekly in Fourth’s Youth ministry. This is a significant opportunity to pour into the life of younger students and disciple them in the faith. Fellows help lead small groups, and also have the opportunity to attend youth retreats in the fall and winter. This is the primary place where fellows will serve within the church during their Fellows Year.

Each fellow is prayerfully and thoughtfully paired with a mentor who is a member of Fourth Presbyterian. Our mentors help fellows navigate these nine months, while offering perspective on seeking the Lord, finding a vocational fit, entering the next stage of adult life, and building meaningful community.

A key element of Christian living is humble service—giving our own gifts without expectation of repayment. This is done in order to love, strengthen, encourage, and dignify others. Every moment of the Fellows Program is an opportunity to serve. However, to make it practical, there are three programmatic components that emphasize service: youth service (local), Cornerstone (regional), and Romanian Christian Enterprises (global).

Local service partnership – Fourth Pres Youth Ministry 

Fourth Fellows will have the privilege of serving the youth of Fourth Presbyterian Church weekly on Wednesday nights.

Regional service partnership – Cornerstone Schools of Washington D.C. 

Fourth Fellows have the privilege of serving at Cornerstone each Thursday. At Cornerstone, Fellows sometimes take recess-duty so that hard-pressed teachers can take a short break. We often are assigned as reading buddies for younger kids, opening up their world through stories and becoming part of a team helping children cultivate a love for reading and learning. 

 Global service partnership – Romanian Christian Enterprises (RCE) 

RCE, located in Arad, Romania, is a nonprofit that brings help and hope to poor families and abandoned children with special needs through its education, poverty prevention, and placement (fostering and adoption) programs. RCE is one of a small number of external organizations that Fourth has adopted for substantial ministry partnerships. 

Fourth Fellows will serve RCE by serving at the RCE Banquet one Saturday in October, participating in the RCE Fun Run in May, and finally, by visiting RCE together in Arad, Romania, during May, to deliver funds raised, and to serve in whatever ways the ministry finds most useful at the time. This amazing opportunity will give the fellows moments throughout the year to discuss the role of short-term missions in the Christian life of service – what to do, what not to do, and ways to think about these types of trips. 

As a Fourth Fellow you’ll be integrated with the church community in a variety of ways – with a host family, a community group and a Parish (multi-age groups based on geography), the larger Fourth church body, the city, and the nationwide Fellows network.  Within all of this are your “fellow Fellows” with whom you journey and inevitably form a particularly strong community. Fellows gather weekly as a “family” for a shared meal and dinner discussion.

Fourth Fellows work three days a week in a part-time, paid work placement. This position helps you gain invaluable real-world work experience. The internship becomes the real-life laboratory where you learn how your faith informs your work.

As with any job your Fourth Fellows work placement is a mutual selection process between you and potential employers. Our committee has relationships with employers and we are always looking to add new work placement sponsors. We do our best to match you with a work placement that aligns to your area of study or career objectives.

Working just three days a week leaves two days for reflection and service that will deepen and mature your understanding of faith, vocation, work, and cultural engagement. You will grow in your understanding of your own unique gifts and strengths and begin to relate these to vocation. You will have a mentor and a network of leaders at Fourth Presbyterian who speak into your life during your Fellows Year and beyond. You also strengthen your peer network, and can tap into the global network of The Fellows Initiative (TFI) alumni.

Fourth Fellows have the opportunity to live and work in the dynamic environment of the nation’s capital. Washington, D.C., is not only historic, but is a youthful, vibrant area with  professional opportunities in the political, legal, business, and non-profit sectors.

Fourth is located in Bethesda, MD, about 9 miles from the U.S. Capitol, and adjacent to the D.C. city line. It is a mix of suburban and urban settings, with close proximity to the professional, cultural and historical elements of D.C.

Bethesda is an interesting city in its own right – home to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), hundreds of incredible restaurants, and one of the most highly educated populations in the nation!

Many members of Fourth Pres work in and influence the culture of Washington, D.C., and make Fourth a fascinating place to worship and build relationships.

As a fellow you will hear from influential Christian leaders and thinkers who seek to live out their faith in a comprehensive and meaningful way.  Spending nine months working, learning, living and exploring in one of America’s political and cultural epicenters will provide an extraordinary opportunity for you to test and understand your faith, and to start well – with the right connections and the right perspectives.

If you are a prospective fellow, we hope you’ll come join us as you seek to learn what it means to start well in all spheres of your life.