Among other things, the Charlotte Fellows program trains Christian leaders to take up strategic places in the marketplace to do good work for the kingdom. This is an aspect of the Christian life that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the church, and it’s a problem the Fellows program seeks to remedy. But as well-intentioned as it may be, this push can fail in two ways.

When I decided to do the Charlotte Fellows Program, the part I was most anxious about was living with a host family. In college, I was incredibly blessed with a rich community, and for that I am forever thankful. But because of it the transition after college was much harder; the people who I’d done life with for the past four years were scattered across the country. (Things people don’t tell you—leaving college and your people is HARD!!!)

We were told that "Roundtable" was just a weekly dinner where a different person from the Charlotte community would come and share their story of faith. We should have braced ourselves for something more powerful. 

This post was written by Elizabeth Hewitt, Former Charlotte Fellow, class of 2014. She currently lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband Ben, where she works as a product manager in corporate banking.

For this Q + A we corresponded with Davis Ridley, Former Charlotte Fellow class of 2012. Davis currently lives in Dallas, TX with his wife, Chelsea, and their newborn child, Bear Samuel Ridley. He works in business development for Encore Live, a full-service event production company. Before spending nine months in the Fellows Program, Davis graduated from Clemson University. 

How did you first hear about the Charlotte Fellows Program?