Edge Press Blogs

Residency at WoodsEdge

by Erin Oglesby on July 06, 2022

Being accepted into the Residency Program at WoodsEdge was an answered prayer. After graduating college at the end of 2019, moving home and quarantining for months because of Covid, I was feeling pretty lost and lonely. I desperately needed community and clarity on what God wanted me to do next. Things got a little better when I stepped back into the workforce mid-2020, but I still felt like I was just waiting for the next time God would ask me to make a move. At the beginning of 2021, Phill Kwon approached me about joining the 2021-2022 Residency Program at WoodsEdge. If I was accepted, I would have the opportunity to be trained up in ministry, earn my Masters at Dallas Theological Seminary, and get into rich community with people my age. Right away, I knew that this was a door I was meant to walk through. Everything I had been praying about for months was suddenly within reach.

The Residency Program is set to train up leaders before sending them out to do ministry, whether that be in a church or corporate setting. This year, the program also gave us the ability to earn our Master of Arts in Christian Leadership and remain as debt-free as possible. This is a 66-hour program at Dallas Theological Seminary and WoodsEdge generously took care of the first 36 hours of tuition (three semesters) for us. As residents, we worked 25 hours a week. Some of this time was spent in class with Phill Kwon; some of it was spent working in a designated area of ministry. We also had the opportunity to learn from others outside of seminary and the church by visiting different ministries and organizations around the city. On paper, this residency sounded like an incredible opportunity, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what it would really be like.

I had hoped this program would bring me friends. I had hoped it would develop me as a leader in ministry. I had hoped it would deepen my relationship with the Lord. But in true God fashion, He took my mediocre dreams and made them great in practice.

I worked in Children’s Ministry prior to my residency and was able to continue in my role during the program; however, there was an extra push to serve outside of the elementary team that had not been present before. Being connected to the staff as a resident put me in a unique situation that helped me step out of my comfort zone and volunteer with ministries that I had not interacted with much prior to August of 2021. In the first six months of my residency, I began leading a group of ninth grade girls with Student Ministry on Wednesday nights, served as a leader at Freedom Weekend, and went to camp to be a cabin leader for Fifty6’s iChoose retreat. I know for a fact that I would not have done those things on my own, so I am very grateful for the way I was challenged as a leader and stretched as a believer by each opportunity. Who knew that young girls between the ages of ten and sixteen could ask such thoughtful and raw questions about faith and God? Thankfully, I felt qualified to answer some of those questions because of my coursework in seminary.

It was such a privilege to walk through the early process of earning of my masters degree with the residents. Some days were easy. Other days were rough. Getting to travel to Austin with them to take nineteen hours of class in two and a half days directly after the Pursuit Conference was nothing short of chaotic – but in the best way. I have loved having the chance to process the intense amount of theological information with four (five if you want to count Phill) other people who love the Lord and want to live according to His word. I am definitely going miss sitting in conference room 107 or Third Gen. coffee shop for hours on end writing papers and talking about the definition of prophecy according to the Bible. Although, I am happy that we have all coordinated our fall semester schedules so that we are taking most of the same classes next year even though we won’t see each other every day anymore. Praise God for texts, phone calls and Zoom!

Looking back on my time as a resident, I am in absolute awe of God’s faithfulness to answer my prayers. Not only did He put me on the path to better serve His Church through ministry and seminary, but He gave me the people to encourage my walk with each step. I knew I wanted church friends, but I had no idea how badly I needed Christ-centered community. The memories that I have made with the residents are some of the sweetest ones I have to date. From laying under the stars at Residency Retreat, talking about God and engaging in listening prayer, to playing Kan-Jam in every available field or parking lot, I can confidently say that I have never experienced a bond with a group of people like this one. And because God is so awesome, He not only gave me the residents, but also a whole community group that radiates the love of Jesus and budding friendships with other members of this staff.

As my residency program draws to a close, I have taken a job with the communications team at WoodsEdge and feel blessed to be sticking around for a while longer to serve and cultivate the relationships God has given me. My experience as a resident over the last nine months has been invaluable. God’s hand in my life has been evident throughout this year and I cannot wait to take the next steps of obedience to His will!


Go to WoodsEdge.org/residency to learn more about the Residency Program at WoodsEdge.


Tags: community, faith, residency, seminary

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