C.N. Hostetter, Jr. Fellowship Program
Molly Hamilton

Molly is a soft spoken English major and native of Hampstead Maryland. She has been spending a lot of her semester as the Liturgical Chapel coordinator, where she has the pleasure of being Evie Telfer’s work study. “She’s a lot of fun to work with,” Molly admits. “I like it a lot”.

If there is one thing for certain about Molly, it would be her ambition to go to seminary when she graduates from Messiah. She doesn’t know which, or where she will be led afterward, but just ask her what her future looks like, and her eyes will become wide and bright, and she’ll reply “I want to go to seminary!” She owes this vocational direction to her experiences within the Hostetter program, “especially the internship program.”

Molly spent her summer as an intern for Father Ed Messersmith, priest of Saint Luke’s Episcopal in Mechanicsburg. She got a real taste of what the church does beyond Sunday service, “I did a little bit of everything the church does, and a little bit of everything Father Ed does.” Father Ed kept Molly busy, whether she was attending committee meetings, visiting hospitals, or helping with VBS. She also had opportunities to preach on more than one occasion.

While she was able to experience first hand a lot of the ins and outs of the church, there was one humble experienced where Molly realized her own distinct calling. While gardening for St. Luke’s, a woman approached her and said, “If you haven’t experienced a call to ministry yet, you will soon”. Molly realized that that moment in itself was all the calling she needed, “that’s when I decided to go to seminary.”

Besides the summer Molly spent with St. Luke’s, the mentorship also proved to be an incredibly beneficial experience. She describes her mentor as the perfect match, and adds, “I had never been able to talk about my vocation in ministry before, the atmosphere was perfect.” Molly attributes much of her aspiration to be in the ministry to the Hostetter program, she says, “It was instrumental in shaping my vocational identity.”