Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 48 minutes ago
Through field education, students at Duke Divinity School step beyond the classroom and into churches and other ministry settings where they begin testing what they've learned against the complexities of real life.
For Savannah Smith, a Rural Ministry Fellow pursuing a Master of Divinity (’27), that journey has led to Blackburns' Chapel UMC, a small rural congregation where she could dive right into the community.
"Duke Divinity has definitely shown me that we all have the responsibility to carry out Christ's mission," she said. "It's helped me to think about my vocation less as this duty and more as this gift. I get to go and I get to be with the people of God, and I get to be a part of how God is already at work in those places."
Through field education, students at Duke Divinity School step beyond the classroom and into churches and other ministry settings where they begin testing what they've learned against the complexities of real life.
For Savannah Smith, a Rural Ministry Fellow pursuing a Master of Divinity (’27), that journey has led to Blackburns' Chapel UMC, a small rural congregation where she could dive right into the community.
"Duke Divinity has definitely shown me that we all have the responsibility to carry out Christ's mission," she said. "It's helped me to think about my vocation less as this duty and more as this gift. I get to go and I get to be with the people of God, and I get to be a part of how God is already at work in those places."
