Showing Up Without Knowing
CPE Alumni Stories is a series from our Fabulous Winter 2026 cohort, in which graduates of our Clinical Pastoral Education program look back on their formation at San Francisco Night Ministry. Here, Alex Ferri reflects on the Summer 2025 unit.
Alex Ferri, CPE Summer Cohort 2025
I came into CPE pretty early in my journey. I went straight to divinity school from undergrad, so I am still very much figuring out who I am and what I believe. But one thing has always felt steady: since I was young, I have known that I wanted to do some form of ministry. That has never really changed, even though what that ministry looks like continues to shift.
Being at San Francisco Night Ministry felt like actually stepping into that call for the first time.
The interfaith environment was especially meaningful to me. It felt open and alive, like there was space for different ways of being and believing. And the work itself was deeply unpredictable. Every night walk felt like entering something unknown. I never knew who I was going to meet or what the night would bring. Often, it was the most unexpected people or moments that stayed with me.
One simple moment in the Tenderloin became surprisingly meaningful. My cohort and I had made flyers to share information about the Care Line, and we were handing them out without really knowing whether it was making any difference. At one point, we approached someone working with a Christian group serving food and asked if we could leave some flyers. He looked at them, took all of them, and then, without much explanation, invited us to hold hands and pray.
It was a quiet moment of connection across traditions. It reminded me that ministry does not always happen through something planned or polished. Sometimes it happens when people are willing to meet each other with openness.
Right now, I feel a little in between. I want to move forward, and I also feel the need to integrate everything and understand myself more clearly. But I do know this: being out there, showing up without knowing what would happen, meeting people as they are — it felt right. Even if I am still figuring out what that means.
Alexandra “Alex” Ferri
CPE Summer 2025 Cohort
Buddhist / Christian, MDiv Candidate
