First & Calvary
Scholars Profiles
The First & Calvary Scholars Program empowers exceptional students in the creative disciplines of fine arts, writing, and music to explore the intersection of the Christian faith and the arts. The program offers 10 paid internships each year for participants to explore their craft within the ministry of First & Calvary—a historic church with a mission to build bridges of blessing between the church and people in the arts. This program supports local art students who are at the forefront of Christian creativity by granting them quality time and space to work, one-on-one coaching in ministry, and resources that help nurture the spiritual calling of the creative.
Jocelyn Squires, Writing, Evangel
To be an Intern, a Scholar:
An Excerpt from the Life of Jocelyn Squires
I’d always known I would be going to college, mostly because I’d been told so since I was little. The step after high school was always going to be college for me. Not a job, not a trade school—I was going to college. In the summer of ‘21, I applied to and was accepted by Evangel University. In the spring of ‘22, I graduated high school. Then, finally, after eighteen years of waiting and imagining and waiting a bit more, I moved in for my freshman year in the fall of 2022. College felt Mature. College felt like being an Adult. College was seven hours away from my family, so maybe it also felt Lonely. I was excited, though. As a totally mature and utterly responsible adult, it was my sworn duty to apply myself to my studies and make my brain wrinklier. One thing that was somehow both the same and different from high school to college was picking classes. In high school, poor Mrs. Stader, my guidance counselor, was left to strongly advise me in what classes I should take. In college, the lovely Dr. Friesen, my advisor, was a primary onlooker in each semester of chaos I concocted. I remember Friesen walking me through my course requirements as an English major for the first time. The page of possibilities held future paths like a crystal ball. I needed to work a semester on a campus publication (I write, from my office as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Epiphany magazine). I needed to take fifteen credit hours of writing courses (I say, several chapters deep into the second novel I’ve worked on for class). I also absolutely, no backing out, 100 percent needed to do a writing internship. As a freshman, I was an okay writer at best. People like to tack on the word “aspiring,” like that softens the blow. I was aspiring to know where to place a comma. I had been swimming in the art of narrative for several years, but I was just learning to dog paddle in poetry and spoken word. I would rather have drowned than seriously consider academic writing. The thought of a formal internship chilled like leftovers from a frozen microwave. The only context I had for what an internship might be was Carl from Phineas and Ferb. Somehow, I didn’t think I was capable of making coffee and graphics to fight against the crusade of evil. I’d always known I was going to college, but I didn’t always know I’d be an intern. Perhaps it’s my own youth, but the word just sounds so thrilling, so full of anticipation. Interns got to apply all the years of practice into the first real duel against the real world, steel to steel and word to paper. Or, as I was growing into my skills, word to microphone. I began my descent into the craft of spoken word on a whim. The drama team at church had disbanded, so there weren’t any special elements for the year’s revival service. I’d been writing poetry for a month or two, thus I took it upon myself to fill the void with some dramatically presented rhymes. The smooth feel of a microphone in hand, the wave of my voice lilting across an audience, the private conversations with God—the whole process is now comfortably familiar. This skill acquired on a whim had grown to mean something, both to me and my current employers. I’ve gone to college and acquired an internship, although I still haven’t made coffee for anyone. Instead, I attend meetings, perform faith-based poetry, and scribe out whatever draft fits into the miscellaneous needs of First and Calvary Presbyterian Church. I am a student, an intern, a scholar—I am a part of a group of Christian creatives dedicated to coloring ministry to be a little brighter. Over the course of the next few weeks, join me as I journey into the lives of the other nine students, interns, and scholars. We have all grown up, matured a little, and attended college, but we are not alone in our work. And, if you wonder if you have a place in our budding team of talent, make sure to apply at: https://www.firstandcalvary.org/scholars-application
Jayna Glynn, Worship Team, MSU
Coffee with Glinda:
A Look into the Story of Jayna Glynn(da)
Waltzing in like she had conjured her own personal pink bubble of magic, Jayna Glynn graced my presence with a meeting at Traveller’s Coffeehouse one chilly Monday afternoon. The far wall housed studying students, a small table helped an older woman through her devotionals, and a small green teapot accompanied the brunette with a book. In all of that, the pink and red clad student made her way to me, short blond hair moving in time with her steps. She deposited her things and moved towards the counter. Jayna didn’t know what she wanted. She perused the menu, began her order, backtracked, and chatted amicably with the cashier. Her red sweater was adorned with a pink puffy vest. She wore widely cut dark wash jeans that hung above her red and pink high-tops, complete with hearts on her ankles to match the hearts in her ears. It was the week of love, and Jayna would fight the dreary weather in armed combat with her outfit alone if she could. Everything about Jayna screamed enthusiastic happiness, and maybe that’s why I scheduled her interview first: how could anyone walk away from a conversation with the physical embodiment of the Joy of the Lord feeling anything less than fulfilled? Jayna’s days are filled carefully and excitedly with commitment and hobbies. She has a need to keep her hands moving, and they are lonely without her crochet hook. You can tell in the way she talks with every part of her body, in the way she leans forward, in the way she always seems to be anticipating motion. Perhaps she sat down, hands bored, and regretted not bringing a project for her crochet business, @crochetalldaybae, along. Perhaps, she was whirling with an idea for a playlist in order to DJ and MC an upcoming wedding. Perhaps, her fingers itched for a keyboard to lay bare her soul. Either way, she was excited, lit up even despite the lack of natural light. This is Jayna’s senior year. This is her last semester at Missouri State University cramming all sorts of musical theater knowledge into every performative bone in her body. The application process to even get into the program was brutal—singing, dancing, and acting samples required for only a small chance of success—but she was not cowed. Even now, she spends her weekends auditioning for upcoming shows. There was a time before musical theater, however. There was a long time where everything was simply music. Jayna’s parents enrolled her in piano lessons before she even made it to grade school. Piano wasn’t something she simply played. She resonated with it. “I was, like, a prodigy pianist,” Jayna admitted to me. “I competed as an elementary schooler with the high schoolers, and I was, like a nerd to the max. I was, like, five hours a day at the piano because I loved it.” Eventually, acting joined her list of pastimes, helping to characterize her into the young woman she has become today. Recently, she took to jazz. In class, her professor taught her a variety of ways to make scales a nightmare of difficulty, but Jayna continues to rise to the challenges set before her. She has big aspirations and dreams of New York. Considering how she’s practically Glinda the Good Witch in the making, I have faith in her ability. Jayna hasn’t just spent the past few years improving through school. A variety of shows and extracurriculars have continued to give her a chance to bloom. One such opportunity was the Scholar’s Program at First & Calvary Presbyterian. She’s finishing up her third and final year right now and looks back on the plethora of memories amassed fondly. She remembers applying during her freshman year. “I love the Lord,” she recounts, “and I love leadership, and ‘let me in coach’! I had a couple of interviews, and I haven’t stopped doing it.” Her favorite part of the program lies, unsurprisingly, in all the relationships she’s built. She’s watched the Scholar’s program grow from four students to ten. She’s watched the contemporary service grow into itself. She’s revelled in the opportunity to do music and ministry with other women. She’s laughed, she’s connected, and she’s grown. One of her favorite memories is being surrounded by friends while recording for Testify, put on by F&C on Spotify, and being unable to get a good take because of the mirth permeating the atmosphere. Jayna has carved out an invaluable place among the Scholars. The community cultivated over her years here radiates the joy she so enthusiastically emits. If you’re craving to join a collection of Christian creatives, make sure to apply to the Scholar’s Program to be considered for next year. We’d love to have you, just click the link: https://www.firstandcalvary.org/scholars-application
Miles, Choral, MSU
Snapshot of Momentum:
A Brief Look At Miles Stamper
Miles Stamper, quick and purposeful, flew into Traveller’s Coffeehouse to meet me on a Tuesday afternoon. Our table was near the door, so immediate eye contact was almost involuntary. Quick recognition, things stashed on his side of the table, and off to the barista to order. The day was substantially busier than my last visit to the café. Upbeat music backgrounded a multitude of mini-groups: friends catching up, students slugging through homework, and a Bible study between two fashionable ladies at a table pushed against the left wall. Miles shifts his weight as he contemplates his order, looking for a moment before leaping towards any single flavor. Brown shoes bring him up fully to the counter as he engages the barista in a quick exchange. Light-wash jeans, red cabled sweater, and a dark jacket have protected him against the cool February atmosphere so far, but now a drink would chase away the remainders of the chill. He finishes, returns to me, and sits as a hand runs through his dark longer hair. The drink is not long coming. It’s in a to-go cup rather than a mug, which is telling. Miles is a soul born to be on the move. Miles plays, fidgets with the drink’s cardboard koozie, with his keys, with the black cord bracelet on his left wrist. He talks a little like he’s looking ahead to the next events of his day. He speaks with a poetic and musical quality, like his throat was molded to move others. He moves with confident momentum, like his hands were crafted to conduct. In his little free time, he reads. Genres like fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction stand out. He also enjoys roleplaying in games like Dungeons and Dragons as well as Magic the Gathering. It’s the interactions with the world that draw him in. “The writing is so, like, intimately real,” he said, “in something that’s not real.” But, it’s more than just that. It’s the coming to know and “being in a futuristic society, and there’s this whole economy that’s been planned out and that runs, and you get to hear the inner workings. You’re like ‘Oh, that’s crazy!’ This would happen because cause and effect.” Actions and reactions, movement and consequences, a teacher and a student, a well-timed swish of the wrist and music. Miles is a senior Music Education major at Missouri State University. This fall, his last semester will be spent doing student teaching. This path isn’t a surprise for those who know him. Miles grew up surrounded by music. “My mom sand around the house, and I’d sing with her,” he explained. “And then, I did choir, and I loved it. And then, I did my first musical James and the Giant Peach, and that’s kind of what, like, locked me in.” Singing gave way to musical theater, drums, and piano. Over time, Miles came to truly understand the impact of music. Music is unlike anything else because “it’s a shared language, you know? You don’t have to speak the same language as someone to understand a chord the same as them or to hear something and know was it is. And so, it’s like a connection, but also it’s like one of the few pieces of art that we get to carry with us. We can take a photo of a piece of art to stick with us, but music is something that is internal.” For the first time, he pauses his movement as he speaks these words. His gaze trails out into the window behind me, but I doubt he’s tracking much of what is happening outside. Music has earned his full attention, his full dedication. On the wall behind Miles, there is large black lettering: “So Where’s LIFE Taking You?” I asked him just as much. He’s on track to teach, obviously. He’s interested in conducting. First & Calvary has whetted his taste for the experience, and he finds it exhilarating. “Everyone in the choir is putting their trust in you to lead them where they need to be,” he explained. Miles takes this seriously, and tends to memorize the music he gets to conduct. Still, all this anticipation, while appropriate for the whirlwind of momentum that is Miles Stamper, is not all there is. Just because Miles has a future does not mean that he does not have a present. He’s currently practicing for his senior recital on April thirteens at 7:30 in MSU’s Ellis Hall, and he’s rehearsing for The Waitress: The Musical. He also teaches a choir at the Judy Reynolds Center for Education. Miles’s goal-oriented nature does not cloud him from what is happening, but it rather pushes him to experience more. He resonates deeply with lyrics from the song “Spin the Wheel.” The inspiring verse: Wait 'til your brothers and your sisters, see where you been And if you loved the journey more than the end, go ahead Just turn that hourglass around and count to ten This ain't goodbye no more Nah, it just began His journey as the tenor scholar at First & Calvary involves participation in the Sunday choir, serving as the tenor section leader, and occasionally conducting. He revels in the podcasts and articles the scholars take in to prepare for our monthly lunches. Every day, every note is a step forward towards growth and the future. Even as his college career comes to a wrap by the end of 2025, Miles is not daunted. His journey is just beginning, and he has prepared well. The Scholars Program has been a wonderful launching pad and tool as Miles gets his feet planted firmly in his craft. From flexible opportunities, encouraging staff, and monthly lunches, the program is built to cultivate further creativity and skill within its participants, and Miles is no exception. If you feel your own journey could be benefited by the program, make sure to apply at: https://www.firstandcalvary.org/scholars-application
Aaron Huffman, Organ, MSU
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Kyleigh, Choral, MSU
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Lily, Percussion, MSU
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Madeline, Vocal, Clever
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Ella, Choral, MSU
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