Open Call at Hastings College
Open Call is a summer immersion experience for current high school freshman, sophomores and juniors exploring a call to ministry. Hosted on the Hastings College campus, students participate in hands-on learning and discovery sessions on everything from story-telling and faith to current culture and strategies to preach across digital platforms.
Instructors connect Biblical text with current culture, use digital media to create multi-sensory presentations and teach theological languages for faith and Biblical teachings that will help students share the depth and insights of their faith.
The week-long experience includes recreational activities and field trips, and culminates with students preparing and giving sermons that will be uploaded to a Digital Sermon Library.
2025 Open Call
Dates: Saturday, May 31 to Saturday, June 7
Location: Hastings College campus
Cost: None! Lodging, meals and other items are covered by a grant.
Deadline: The deadline to register is May 15, 2025.
Note: Registration is limited to 25 students.
Registration is open!
Open Call Courses
Faith and Pop Culture – You’ll discover where the stories of our lives and the stories of our faith intersect with the stories we know from movies, television, social media, video games and more! We’ll learn how seeking the common themes within these stories help us encounter and tell God’s story more fully.
Biblical Explorations – Biblical explorations start with the Word of God. In this class, you’ll take a deep dive into scripture to discover its context culturally, linguistically and symbolically!
Public Speaking – Learn techniques and practice ways to become more confident in public speaking. This is a skill anyone can learn, and you’ll gain confidence in your ability to share information.
Digital Media – From video to sound to lighting…it’s all so important! In this course you’ll get the basics and work to record your very own sermon for our Digitel Media Library.
Additional Information
In addition to classes and hands-on work, Open Call participants work independently on their final projects — sermons that can be delivered at their home churches or at a youth conference for middle and high school students and church leaders.
Students can use video equipment and studios on campus to help craft their sermons, and create a final recording that will be uploaded to a Digital Sermon Library.
Wherever students choose to deliver their sermons, they will benefit from the feedback of church leaders who, in turn, will benefit from hearing youth-engage-youth through creative preaching.
Open Call participants may also submit their sermons as part of the scholarship application process for the ASPIRE (Academy of Student Preachers Inspiring Religious Engagement) program at Hastings College.
About Our Instructors
Rev. Doodle Harris is the Chaplain at Hastings College. Doodle has served Presbyterian and Lutheran Churches since earning her MDiv from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and being ordained as a minister in 2008. She also has a BA in Music Performance from Presbyterian College and a MM in Music Theory from the University of South Carolina. When not working, she can be found reading, playing board games and planning her next trip to Disney World! She lives in Hastings with her wife, Amanda, her twins, and her obnoxious dog, Lorelai.
Rev. Dr. Clint Cozier graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary where he was a Senior Preaching Week finalist. He continued his studies at the University of Sheffield in Great Britain where he was awarded a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies for his work in the Hermeneutics of Oral Performance Literature. He has been an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA) for twenty years. His ministry has included involvement in three new church development projects. He currently serves as the Teaching Elder at First Presbyterian Church of Kearney, Nebraska.
Jarod Rogers is the Director of the Center for Applied Media Arts and Hastings College’s media instructor. A native of Middle Tennessee, Jarod has more than 15 years experience as a photojournalist, producer and content creator in broadcast news and corporate media. He owned and operated his own video production company and has been an educator for the past five years. Jarod holds a B.S. in Communications from Union University in Tennessee, and is currently working on his M.F.A. in Film and Television Production from Asbury University. He is committed to providing students with opportunities to learn, grow and succeed in the ever-changing media industry.
Jordan Johnson is Director of the Hastings College Speech team and a visiting associate professor in Communication Studies. She is finishing her doctorate from UNL and has been coaching public speaking at the high school and collegiate level for the past 14 years.
Questions?
If you have questions about Open Call, contact:
Rev. Doodle Harris at doodle.harris@hastings.edu, or
Mary Plock, ASPIRE Program Associate, at mary.plock@hastings.edu or 402.705.0675.
