2026 Interns

Written by: The Communication Team

Summer is here, and so are our summer interns! The Gateway Church summer internship program has begun with six interns: Briana Hamilton, Caleb Hanson, Bailey Sawmiller, Tori Schroeder, Sam Spence, and Josie Todd. They'll all spend a week with each ministry department to sample the ins and outs of vocational ministry. We're excited for them to experience life on a church staff and look forward to having them all summer. If you see them at either campus, take a second and say hi!

Here are some questions we asked them to help you get to know them a little better:

Briana Hamilton

School: Bowling Green State University

Major: Dietetics (Nutrition)

How did you end up at Gateway Church? I was invited to Gateway Church by a staff member of the Campus Outreach Ministry on Bowling Green State University's campus. After my first service, I loved coming to Gateway Church ever since.

What's one thing you hope to learn from this internship? I hope to learn about the inner workings of vocational ministry, specifically youth ministry. I hope to learn and shadow the Gateway Church staff to better understand what it mean to work for a church as well as the day to day life of working in vocational ministry.

What's one thing everyone should know about you? One thing everyone should know about me is that I love making and drinking coffee! I even make my own coffee syrups at home!

Favorite Bible verse? Galatians 2:20

If you could live a day as any type of animal, what would you choose and why? I would choose to be a red panda because they are cute, my favorite animal, and they can climb on trees!

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Caleb Hanson

School: The University of Findlay

Major: Finance

How did you end up at Gateway Church? My dad moved for work.

What's one thing you hope to learn from this internship? Learn how to work in an environment solved focused on carrying out the Lord's mission.

What's one thing everyone should know about you? Spikeball fanatic

Favorite Bible verse: Matthew 8:12

If you could live a day as any type of animal, what would you choose and why? I think a koala would be cool.

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Bailey Sawmiller

School: Crestpoint University

Major: Business Administrations

How did you end up at Gateway Church? My family and I moved to Findlay in 2020 and were looking for a church. We found Gateway and have been going ever since.

What's one thing you hope to learn from this internship? What it looks like behind the scenes to work at a church, and how staff members encourage, grow, and help others.

What's one thing everyone should know about you? I love coffee and being with my friends.

Favorite Bible verse: 1 Peter 5:10

If you could live a day as any type of animal, what would you choose and why? Probably a bird because I could fly place to place.

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Tori Schroeder

School: University of Cincinnati

Major: Health Sciences (Pre-PA)

How did you end up at Gateway Church? During my first year at University of Cincinnati I ended up getting pretty heavily involved in an on campus ministry called Campus Outreach. One of the girls on staff there named Noel Slone really took me in under her wing and was a both a friend and a mentor for me. She helped me with just regular life things as well as being there to help foster and grow my faith. Around the beginning of the spring semester she came to me with this internship opportunity and encouraged me to apply because it was in my hometown of Findlay over the summer. She had been talking about future career opportunities and that I should look into ministry as an option based on how she’s seen my faith grow and how I’ve become a leader amongst my friends in Campus Outreach.

What’s one thing you hope to learn from this internship? I hope to learn more on how to articulate the gospel and how to disciple others in the future. I want to be able to talk about more theology and have more knowledge in that area as well. Lastly, I would like to have more Bible verses ready to back up what I’ve learned and I’m excited because I believe this opportunity will do just that.  

What’s one thing everyone should know about you? I really enjoy fellowship with friends, meeting new people, and building relationships. Also a little fun fact is that I speak decent Spanish.

Favorite Bible Verse: Romans 8:28 and Proverbs 3:5-6

If you could live a day as any type of animal, what would you choose and why? I would choose a Dolphin, because even though they’re not my favorite animal (polar bears), dolphins are extremely social animals and they seem to be living their best life in the water with their friends. Sounds like my kind of life.

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Sam Spence

School: Bowling Green State University

Major: Applied Health Science

How did you end up at Gateway Church? I was invited by Campus Outreach staff and have been attending Gateway ever since.

What's one thing you hope to learn from this internship? I hope to more gain insight into what goes into the behind the scenes of each area in the church.

What's one thing everyone should know about you? I would say I am a pretty service oriented person. I love helping others/volunteering where I can and I have found it can be a good way to get know people and hear their stories.

Favorite Bible verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9

If you could live a day as any type of animal, what would you choose and why? Probably a dog, I don't really know why I just really like dogs.

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Josie Todd‍

‍School: University of Toledo

Major: Marketing and Human Resources

How did you end up at Gateway Church? I was invited by my friend Ellie to come to Youth Group on Sunday nights my freshman year of high school. Attended Youth Group every Sunday. Eventually I started coming to Sunday services with my boyfriend’s family every week. Since then, Gateway has become my home church.

What's one thing you hope to learn from this internship? I am hoping to learn more about what it takes to make a church operate and all the work that goes into that. As well as if going into ministry post grad/later in life would be something that would be of interest to me.

What's one thing everyone should know about you? I do listen to see if people pronounce my name right, my name is pronounced Jo-SEE not Jo-Zee. lol

Favorite Bible verse: Matthew 5:14-16

If you could live a day as any type of animal, what would you choose and why? An inside dog, probably a golden retriever. I think they match my personality, and would be such a friendly dog.