About the Program
My Journey To Becoming a Blue Ridge Fellow
Just a few weeks before graduating Virginia Tech, I received a phone call from a company where I previously interned. They regretfully informed me that they had to rescind my full-time job offer which I was set to start this summer. It was clear that God was closing one door and opening another.
I always felt like God may have more for me before I start my professional career. I heard about Blue Ridge Fellows from Tim Henderson at a Fall retreat last year. I remember being really interested but feeling like I couldn’t participate due to the job offer I had already accepted. When that offer was withdrawn, I knew God was leading me to something better. I’m very excited to start Blue Ridge Fellows because it will prepare me not only for my career, but for serving the church, leading a family, living a Christ-centered life in a very lost world.
I look forward to the personal growth, mentorship, and community as I jump into this next chapter of my life, fully expecting God to do above and beyond anything I could think or imagine, as He proves once again how much better his plans are for us.
Why We Need Blue Ridge Fellows
I have watched many of my peers graduate from college ahead of me, and enter their professions without a clear understanding of how their calling in Christ relates to their vocational calling. I’ve also heard them express dismay over how hard it has been for them to walk with Jesus post graduation.
Many of us have incredible experiences in campus ministries while in college, but aren’t sure how the spiritual formation we have experienced is best lived out in the professional arena. We are often unsure of how our faith in Christ matters in the 40 or 50 hours a week we spend at work. As a result many young Christian professionals are frustrated by the difficulty of living out and articulating their faith at work, in their neighborhoods, and in their families.
The consequences of this disconnect are everywhere. The world suffers when Christians aren’t well-equipped to live out their faith seamlessly, transforming culture for the glory of God and his Kingdom.
How Blue Ridge Fellows Develops Leaders
As a Blue Ridge Fellow my year will be filled with opportunities to develop habits of seamless faith.
The program is carefully designed to press the imperatives of the gospel into every area of life. The fellows and I will take seminary courses to give us a theological framework to the year. We will also be trained to study the Old and New Testaments to learn to discover Christ in all of Scripture.
Each week we will gather for meal fellowship along with our directors to discuss theology, current events, and the skills required to live out our faith wisely. We will also have private seminars with dozens of Christians in a variety of careers to learn how they integrate their faith.
Because work and home life are the two critical spheres of life, we will work three days a week at professional internships in our career paths where we can serve our employers, and live out all we are learning. And we will each live with a family who graciously welcomes us into their home as they themselves demonstrate seamless faith.
Finally, since the church is the context in which we walk with Christ for the rest of our lives, we will be vitally involved in our host church, serving as volunteer leaders with the youth.
The Results in the Life of a Blue Ridge Fellow
Blue Ridge Fellows learn that a mature faith in Christ is a seamless faith; following Christ on a Sunday is no different than following him on a Monday. As a result of the program we will enter our vocations, marriages–indeed all of life–uniquely equipped to live an integrated life.
Daniel and his friends, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego were foreigners who had a massive influence on a pagan culture. Like them, Blue Ridge Fellows learn how to be a faithful presence so that those around us would see the goodness, truth and beauty in our great God and King.
We also develop an ability to graciously deconstruct, in word and deed, the prevailing cultural axioms which for many make faith in Christ an impossibility. We will become skilled at asking questions and building bridges to an understanding of the world that makes sense of the human experience. As the Spirit reveals the beauty of Christ and his great sufficiency to meet our deepest needs, lost men and women will come to know, worship, and follow the Savior.