By Mary Daniel Cheek
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a four-part series featuring the 2020 cohort of Sacred Sector Fellowship, which equips current and recently graduated seminarians for service within the faith-based nonprofit sector. 2020 Fellows will begin with a weeklong learning intensive with Sacred Sector staff in June, and then complete a 9-week placement with a faith-based organization.
Meet Adedayo Adebayo
Adedayo Adebayo is a seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary studying for his Master of Theological Studies with a specialization in religion and society.
Adedayo is passionate about mentoring, both for himself and for others. “There is no single approach that works for everyone, so I am [educating] myself on theological approaches to youth development. I’m passionate about helping young people...discover themselves, outgrow low-self esteem, and develop confidence in their walk with God. Having [grown up] in a community where teenagers are faced with uncertainties about their future and can often experience low self-esteem...I understand how such experiences can have a negative influence on the life of teenagers as they grow.”
Adedayo shared how he hopes the Fellowship experience will make a difference in his community: "I desire to influence my community positively through my faith. Therefore, learning and working in the faith-based nonprofit sector is a proper step for me in fulfilling my long-term desire. As one of the missions of the Sacred Sector Fellowship is to help seminarians discern their vocational calling and equip them for service within the sacred sector, I believe that through [the Fellowship] I will become more aware of the work faith communities are already doing, and I will have a better understanding of how public policy or cultural trends may affect faith-based sector."
Adedayo previously graduated from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, with a bachelor’s degree in religious studies.
Meet Sarai Muñiz
Saraí Muñiz is a seminarian at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas, where she is working towards a Master of Divinity, and plans to also begin a master’s degree program in social work. Sarai also serves as the office manager of a nonprofit called La Puerta, which serves the Hispanic community of Waco through referrals and resources.
“Working within a faith-based non-profit gives me the unique opportunity to meet someone's immediate need, and then share Christ, their creator who loves and cares for them,” said Sarai.
Sacred Sector Fellowship equips emerging leaders, like Sarai, with practical knowledge to engage in advocacy from an organizational perspective.
“I am interested to learn [about] the information a nonprofit can provide [to community members], especially when it comes to immigration status,” said Sarai.
Following the Sacred Sector Fellowship and graduation from seminary, Sarai hopes to work within the nonprofit sector, with a focus on supporting children and families either in border cities or in Latin America.
Meet Omar Nicholson
Omar Nicholson is in his second year of seminary at Yale Divinity School, where he is studying for a Master of Divinity. He is concurrently pursuing interdisciplinary studies at the Yale School of Public Health. Omar’s involvement at Yale includes serving as event assistant in the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), event coordinator at the Yale Youth Ministry Institute and currently serving as the chair and coordinator of the Community Life Committee, a subcommittee of the OSA and affiliate of Yale Divinity Student Government.
“I see [the] faith based nonprofit [sector] as an industry which holds significant possibilities to effect change to local, national and global dilemmas. Conversely, my education and experiences have placed me in a unique position to find creative and useful ways to make faith-based organizations more adaptive to current concerns.”
Following the Sacred Sector Fellowship and graduation from his programs, Omar hopes to work both as an educator and also in the sectors of public policy, nonprofits, chaplaincy and international affairs.
Omar previously graduated from the Northern Caribbean University in his home country of Jamaica where he earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and completed a minor in mass communications.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
Know a seminarian or a faith-based organization? Connect them with Sacred Sector’s Fellowship and Community, designed to equip individuals and organizations to live out their faith-shaped callings. Email virginia.creasy@cpjustice.org for more information.
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