VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 1/22/19)—On January 7, 2019, the ABCUSA Office of the General Secretary welcomed Rev. Rebecca Driscoll, the first person to be accepted for a new Women in Ministry Internship program.

The internship provides a nine-month opportunity for a woman in ministry to serve in a national leadership setting within American Baptist Churches USA. The funding for the internship was provided by a generous anonymous donor, with total funding available for up to three women to complete the Internship program.

Acting General Secretary Jeff Woods Welcomes Rev. Rebecca Driscoll

Women in Ministry staff Joyce Lake, Rev. Rebecca Driscoll and Rev. Dr. Patricia Hernandez, Associate General Secretary for Women in Ministry and Transition Ministries

Driscoll, a recent seminary graduate, will gain experience within the full scope of national denominational activity as a member of the ABCUSA Office of the General Secretary working in Valley Forge, Pa. Her work with the denomination will include mentorship and interaction with a broad range of ABCUSA ministries (international, national, regional, and local church). She will work closely with the General Secretary and Associate General Secretary for Women in Ministry, along with many additional staff members of the Office of the General Secretary and national partners.

Prior to the start of the Internship, Driscoll served as Associate Pastor with both First Baptist Church of Attleboro and Candleberry Chapel in Attleboro, and worked with the Attleboro Area Interfaith Collaborative’s Food n’ Friends Program. She holds an American Baptist ordination through the Old Colony Baptist Association in the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts.

Driscoll previously held a role as Program Coordinator of the Campus Kitchens Project at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In this role, she worked with students through various service projects to help them connect what they learned in the classroom to social justice issues impacting the area’s food system, and also served as a liaison with local and national partners to ensure that food was secured and delivered to those who could use it in the local community.

She previously worked as a Housing Advocate Intern with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, as a Program Coordinator for El Centro, a tutoring program working with Latino/a students, and as a Park Ranger at the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.

Driscoll received her Master of Divinity degree from the Boston University School of Theology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.