It is no secret that fewer people are going into local church ministry now than they were twenty or thirty years ago, and there is a whole slew of reasons that contribute to this. As Jesus himself noted, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37b). In the same way that there are a variety of factors that contribute to the problem, there are a variety of routes we can take as churches to fight against it. In my opinion, one of these routes is churches having a more developed and healthier understanding of internships and their role in ministry training/education.
Let me begin by being clear that I do not think that ministry internships are the elixir to magically heal poor Christian college admission, low levels of minister retention at churches, or the church doors closing for lack of people in the pulpit. Yet I do believe that internships help in all these areas, and this is one of the few areas where my writing is informed by my own confidence, experience, and conviction. I am twenty-two years old, unmarried (for another few months), childless, penniless, and in my last semester of Bible college. I really am not a veteran at anything of substance. However, over the last four years I have participated in four ministry internships, and each one was a unique adventure that helped me to open my eyes, open my heart, and open doors for the future.
“Over the last four years I have participated in four ministry internships, and each one was a unique adventure.”
These internships were anywhere from three months to two years long at churches that ranged from 30 people to 3,000 people. They were located anywhere from rural farm country, to cushy suburbs, to the midst of large influential cities, one of which was even overseas. Yes, I did do the regular intern stuff. I washed dishes, took out the trash, and went on coffee runs. But I also preached sermons, taught classes, instructed students, and led worship services all while being mentored by high-capacity ministry leaders.
I am not a veteran in most things, least of all the burdens of full-time ministry, raising a family, or investing in a marriage. I hope to be a well-versed student of all these areas someday, but for right now, my expertise is in internships. So, whether you are a ministry veteran looking for your next ministry servant, or a young leader hungry to sharpen your skills and beef up your resume, here are some of the attributes (though assuredly not all of them) that are most vital if that internship is going to pan out the way we all want it to.
These attributes are those that should be identified by the leaders in charge of selecting and mentoring internship candidates. At the same time, these are also the attributes that young leaders with hopes to work somewhere should pursue and devote themselves to.
Willingness
Willingness to Do the Most
Young leaders in their ministry internships should pursue a willingness to do hard things, boring things, and small things for the sake of serving and learning. Internships are for many where their ministry character is tested and their motivations exposed as healthy or unhealthy. Some of the moments I have grown the most are in those tasks I did not think I was signing up for and the jobs I really was not looking forward to. Some of the moments I have learned the most are in those seasons of total depletion after giving a ministry all I have for a period of time.
Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not recommending that anyone forsake all work/rest boundaries and chase after burnout like it is some kind of badge of honor (there are some out there who do recommend such a way of life). But I am saying that an internship is typically something with a definite beginning and ending. This means that the lifestyle you live for your three-month summer internship or your semester-long stint at a church is not the lifestyle you need to adopt for the rest of your ministry career. When there is a defined time of employment, one can do remarkable things and end up serving and being an asset to the ministry that you are tasked with learning from. You can do about anything…for the length of an internship.
“When there is a defined time of employment, one can do remarkable things and end up serving and being an asset to the ministry that you are tasked with learning from.”
The willingness to do the most that I’m describing is crucial if an intern is going to funnel that fiery ambition that young leaders have into a healthy outlet. Scripture has no book or chapter titled “rules for work ethic,” but it is quite clear about the importance of us being diligent and willing to work hard (see Proverbs 13:4, 12:27; Colossians 3:22-24). One small caveat I would make is that if the intern ends up staying on or coming back for a full-time role in the future, the ministry and the new hire need to communicate very clearly about things like boundaries, expectations, and the line of when a workload is too much.
Willingness to Be the Least
The reputation of internships already forces you to consider yourself in a humbler light. That old joke about getting the group’s coffee order correct is not around for nothing! However, it’s worth remembering that many of the young leaders entering internships are exiting their high school’s youth ministry or their Bible/Christian college campuses where they were the big fish in the small pond. Likely, the young people seeking out a ministry internship are the same students who worked hard to learn in their ministry classes, served tirelessly in their youth ministries, and participated in most, if not all, of the activities, events, and ministries that took place on and off campus.
These are the kind of students we want to platform and develop through internships, but they are also the kind of students that are most likely to need a season of humbling service to remind them that they are not in the driver’s seat. As a young leader, one should strive to “be the least” in their internship because they are there to learn from and serve alongside ministry veterans with more experience, education, and frontal lobe-development than they have.
“They are there to learn from and serve alongside ministry veterans with more experience, education, and frontal lobe-development than they have.”
I feel the need to express the importance of this concept specifically because it has been one of the dark sides of my own relationship with ministry. Ambition, achievement, and taking charge are all things I am naturally driven toward pursuing and things I have to watch closely so I don’t let them take over my heart. If success after the internship, in long-term, full-time vocational ministry is something we really want, and I think we do, then we have to be willing to take the backseat and be the least—and ideally for longer than a three-month internship. Scripture says as much in more than one spot; see 1 Peter 5:5-6; Proverbs 22:4; Philippians 2:3-4; James 4:10; Matthew 18:3-4.
Ministry leaders who have 25-50 years under their belts are no stranger to taking the backseat. If they are worth their salt, they have probably spent more time back there than they have in the cockpit. After all, we all need to daily surrender ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus’ lordship over our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6). An internship can be a natural introduction to this necessary surrender.
Awareness
Awareness of Self
An intern is in an especially unique spot and has an especially blessed opportunity to learn skills and character attributes for ministry. Unless multiple internships are in one’s plans (and I highly advise that to be the case), we don’t really have very many opportunities to work at a place for a limited amount of time, with a limited number of responsibilities, commitment, and obligations, but still have access to the whole gamut of blessing, mentorship, and experience. Yes, we have to be willing to take the backseat, but we are also there so we can step up and serve. For some of us, internships may be the first time we have the chance to learn how to serve.
When we have a healthy awareness of ourselves and our position, we are given the gift of moments to learn and grow through the giving of ourselves in service. I encourage anyone who is entering into this season of intern work, and for those leaders who are looking to add an internship program into their church or para-church’s ministry offerings, to build in time for ministry execution, yes, but for ministry education and edification just as much. Internships are strange; there is nothing like that ministry-shaped classroom to truly inform and shape who you are as a ministry leader. So be aware of yourself and take full advantage of the weird but wonderful position you are in so that you can make the most of it.
“There is nothing like that ministry-shaped classroom to truly inform and shape who you are as a ministry leader.”
Awareness of Steps Forward
The life of an intern is strange and short, but it is not the end-all-be-all of ministry training and development. There are the obvious “big brothers” to internships: residencies. However, there are far more next-steps to take post-internship that will enrich both the duration of the internship and the months and years that follow it. In an internship, you will have access to dozens of leaders and servants in Christ’s church with more education and experience under their belts, so soak up all that you can from them so that their advice continues to guide you after the internship.
This means getting their essential-reading lists, drilling them on their favorite podcasts, and asking them who their mentors, leaders, and shepherds are in the ministry of the Word. Whose sermons do they listen to? Whose books do they always read when the author comes out with a new one? What advice would they give to themselves when they were the intern’s age?
“This means getting their essential-reading lists, drilling them on their favorite podcasts, and asking them who their mentors, leaders, and shepherds are in the ministry of the Word.”
Not only is an intern given access to all that the leaders have learned, but they are hopefully now given access to all that those leaders have lived. It is my prayer that any leader willing to take an intern and supervise their development for that short time would also be willing to pour into them for the years and months to come and that those interns would recognize the opportunity to gain a mentor that an internship provides. Of course, the expectation should not be daily or even weekly interactions post-internship; these leaders are busy! But internships are the soil for planting and growing modern-day Paul-and-Timothy ministry friendships of mutual learning and mentorship. Anyone entering this phase of training and equipping is missing out if they are not aware of the chance they have to grow in the learned and lived wisdom of their ministry leaders.
Humility
Though I haven’t explicitly used the word much throughout this article so far, humility is a recurring theme and, in my opinion, an absolute necessity for a great internship. This goes not only for the presentation of oneself, one’s achievements, or one’s future prospects but in the places you go after an internship. Internships are for many the first foray into ministry work that we experience. If that first experience is one characterized by pride and self-promotion, that is likely the direction that one’s ministry will take. However, if an internship is saturated in humility and soaked in a prayerful attitude of submission to the Spirit and other Spirit-filled leaders, the long-term ministry fruit will likely and hopefully have the same trajectory. In all things internship related, humility is the bottom line (see Ephesians 4:2).
Conclusion: A Case for Internships
Now, listen, I know the reality. I live alongside a whole lot of people who participate in at least one ministry internship while they are pursuing their bachelor’s degree, and many people’s experience is not as peachy as mine has been. I have been beyond blessed to have had four internships that each have been life-giving and life-changing experiences which have only increased my zeal and passion for full-time vocational ministry post-graduation. This is far from everyone’s experience. I have heard the intern horror stories of ill-treatment, ill-preparation, and borderline traumatic work environments that end up turning people away from serving God’s church full-time.
Still, I hope these words serve as a testament to the potential that a ministry internship holds for the intern and for the ministry facilitating their development. My internships have changed my life, so much so that when it was time to begin my job search, those four ministries I interned at were the first four on my list because I was given the chance to catch the vision, participate in the mission, and see God’s kingdom work being done in each of those contexts.
“I was given the chance to catch the vision, participate in the mission, and see God’s kingdom work being done in each of those contexts.”
I am not an expert or veteran in many things, if anything at all. But I feel solid in the realm of internships and the impact they can make, and I implore any of you reading this that are debating whether this is something for you—take the leap and be an intern. Be willing, be aware, and be humble. I can’t promise it’ll be perfect, but I know it will help you grow. For any of those reading who are considering doing away with your ministry’s internship program, starting it back up again, or who are in search of your next short-term ministry servant, take it from a vet’ in the field: what you are doing is investing in the Lord’s harvest. Thank you, on behalf of an intern, for your kingdom investment.