My Internship Experience at the IRD

[Editor’s note: This is part of a series of brief reflections authored by current and past interns about their experience at the Institute on Religion & Democracy. For more information about IRD’s internship program, click here.]

One evening several months ago, I was preparing to host a Bible study with my host mom – a woman with whom I lived with over the past nine months as part of my fellows program. Usually, someone else hosted, but they were out of town and so she volunteered in their stead. She and I set up for dinner – using the fancy dishes and the silverware I polished myself – then wait as people trickle in.

I am in the middle of instructing guests on where to put their coats when it happens. An older man, mild-mannered and introverted, approaches me. He introduced himself, then asked, “You were the one who wrote that article on physicality in worship, weren’t you?” 

Surprised, I replied that I am.

He nodded, then said in the same soft voice, “It was a good article. I liked it.”

Over the past year, this and similar occurrences have happened with surprising frequency. At youth group, a fellow youth leader praised my article on Gen Z women in the church; at home, my host mom mentioned how a parishioner had come over to help her move some paintings and gushed about how my writing had changed his perspective. The program coordinator for my fellows program complimented my article on the saints.

Every time, these occurrences surprise me. Having written online for quite some time, receiving online comments is common. Having a person approach me in-person to say something is not.

This has been among the pleasant surprises of interning at the IRD over the past nine months. As a fellow at the Falls Church Anglican, our program combines church ministry with work as a holistic version of leadership formation for the whole person. We stay with a host family, take seminary classes, lead in youth ministry, listen to seminars on faith and vocation, and intern part-time. My internship with IRD is one way that the program has helped me to grow in many ways, both interpersonally and professionally.

In addition to writing for this blog, I got my first taste of working a major event when assisting at IRD’s annual Christianity and National Security conference. Every autumn, college professors and students gather for two days of seminars on the intersection between faith and foreign policy. About a hundred people attended in 2025, which meant I experienced exactly what it was to coordinate food and a museum tour for a hundred people!

I also learned about branches of historic Christianity outside of my own. Raised in a non-denominational church, my grasp of church history, tradition, and theological doctrine was shaky and unformed. In my last few months of college, I spent much time researching those things, trying to decide what I believed.

Being a fellow at an Anglican church and interning at the IRD, where my coworkers ranged from Methodist to Presbyterian to Catholic and even Eastern Orthodox, offered me insight into many different theological traditions. Although I still consider myself Protestant, I have gained new appreciation for Catholicism and Orthodoxy. I now own a book on the different liturgies of the Stations of the Cross, as well as an Anglican rosary.

I’m grateful to my IRD colleagues for letting me learn from them (and letting me eat a lot of their food). I’m especially grateful for having the opportunity to be published here on Juicy Ecumenism, which I plan to continue as a guest writer. Additionally, as I plan my next steps, I have started a Substack for my writing, which will include a larger variety of topics than what I’ve written for this blog. Interested readers can find my Substack here.

Miranda Mobley served as a 2025-2026 intern for the Institute on Religion & Democracy and in The Falls Church Anglican Fellows program, a 9-month spiritual formation and leadership program.

More from IRD:

Read Miranda Mobley’s articles for IRD here.