Intern Cadence convenes a very serious work meeting with Rector, Fr. Noah Van Niel, and Kathy Hanna, Director of Family, Youth & Children’s Ministry.

If you have stopped by the parish offices over the last week, you might have noticed a new face around the building. We had the absolute pleasure of hosting Cadence Booth, an eighth-grade student from Ghent Montessori, as our church intern.

Cadence is already a familiar face to many in our parish: their mother is Maria Booth, our church treasurer, and Cadence is an active participant in both our Chorister program and our youth group. When an internship opportunity at another organization fell through at the last minute, our Minister for Children and Youth, Kathy Hanna, leapt at the chance to welcome Cadence to the team.

When I sat down to interview Cadence at the end of their five-day internship, I was eager to hear what it was like to peek behind the curtain of Christ & St. Luke’s. As is the true hallmark of any 13-year-old navigating an interview with an overly enthusiastic Communications Director, Cadence was artfully concise. But beneath their watchful and alert demeanor, it was clear that they had absorbed a profound amount about what it takes to run a vibrant, active church.

As part of the Ghent Montessori curriculum, the eighth-grade internship is designed to help students start thinking about their future working lives and write their own resumes and cover letters.

The hidden machinery of the church

When asked what surprised them the most about their time working here, Cadence noted that “there is a lot going on like all the time.” They spent their first morning going over the master calendar with Kathy, and later sat in on our weekly staff meeting.

For a teenager whose primary experience of church is Sunday worship and youth group, seeing the sheer volume of weekday programming was a revelation. Cadence learned about the myriad ways our adults gather to deepen their faith, expressing surprise at the existence of all our different book clubs and our Queer Theology discussion group. It was a great reminder for all of us that the work of being a “conjunctive people” — connecting across differences and finding spaces for spiritual exploration — requires a lot of hidden, operational machinery and deliberate scheduling throughout the week!

Cadence’s shot of Fr. Noah cleaning up the dog poop on the church’s grass verge was an instagram highlight of the week.

Music and liturgy

Because Cadence is a member of our Choristers, they were uniquely positioned to help Kevin, our Director of Music, organize the choir’s sheet music. Cadence explained that because the choir doesn’t just sing “the same three songs” all year long, they spent time sorting new music into folders and marking the hymnals for the upcoming Sunday. It was a hands-on lesson in the liturgical rigor and careful preparation that goes into our world-class worship services every single week. Cadence also got to serve as a welcoming usher for our Friday lunchtime concert.

Lunch ministry

A big part of Cadence’s week was stepping behind the camera (and holding the big boom microphone) to help me record sound for a new documentary film we are making about our lunch ministry.

Testing sound capture for our documentary about lunch ministry.

Before this week, Cadence admitted they didn’t know much about the lunch ministry. But after spending time on the ground and meeting with the ministry’s leadership alongside Kathy, Cadence reflected on the profound nature of the work. When asked what they took away from the film shoot, they beautifully summarized the core of the program — it is about “helping people on the margins feel like valued human beings through food.”

Assembling a new Arts Guild exhibition with Arts Guild leader Heidi Anderson.

Looking ahead

As part of the Ghent Montessori curriculum, the eighth-grade internship is designed to help students start thinking about their future working lives and write their own resumes and cover letters.

While Cadence isn’t entirely sure what the distant future holds — though they are looking ahead to moving on to high school next year — they have a strong creative streak. We talked a bit about their passions for drawing, designing clothes, and music, and how those interests might one day translate into a career.

Whether Cadence ends up in fashion design, the music industry, or somewhere else entirely, perhaps even in a church — we are so grateful for the time and care they gave to our parish this week. It is a joy to watch the young people of this church grow, learn, and step into their own unique gifts.

Thank you for your hard work, Cadence!