Internships

Chuck on February 23rd, 2010

I’ve gotten a few emails lately regarding internships.  Essentially they have been asking me what I focus on with my interns.  Well, there is a whole slew of things that can happen in internships and if I’m honest every one is different.  Every person is different.  Every calling is unique.  And every ministry is specific.

Having said that here are 5 general things I think internships ought to be about:

  1. Helping people understand the heart of a spiritual leader.  So many time we jump into assigning tasks, fulfilling details…and sometimes just ought right giving away the stuff we don’t want to do.  When this is the case, we may miss the most important aspect of interning: getting a glimpse of the heart of a pastor.
  2. Internships are about discovery.  This is NOT limited to what they are good at and what they are not.  For me the important thing is they discover how God uniquely uses them in the lives of other people.  This is vital.
  3. Internships are about exposure.  They are about gaining exposure to different facets of the ministry and the church.  In other words, making sure they get the bigger picture of the ministry and church.  Way too often interns get stuck in a particular area of ministry, become a specialist in that area, but end up losing out on the bigger picture.
  4. Internships are about formulating a philosophy.  It’s about helping someone know understand what we do, why we do it, and how we go about it.  But even more than that it’s helping someone develop their own philosophy of ministry…even if it disagrees with ours.
  5. Internships are about development.  It’s about developing the whole person, in every aspect of life.  Internships also need to have measurements in all areas, where the intern is assessed.  For some this might be formal, for others not at all.  But the measurement of development is important.

Related posts:

  1. Mission Statements Causing Confusion
  2. Aspect Often Missed On Mission Trips
  3. Back Home…and thinking
  4. “Out of the Box”
  5. Radio Interview

Share Discuss (2)

John at 10:54am March 1

Chuck, I read your blog regularly and I appreciate you sharing your experience with others.
do you have an internship process that you would be willing to share? I am speaking beyond the bullet points you listed, as though they are wonderful, I am curious as to the actual “nuts & bolts” sort of speak.
Thank you in advance for your response.

chuck bomar at 12:54am March 2

hey John. unfortunately i don’t have anything articulated i can send (with a clear conscience, that is). this sounds like a horrible plug, but the truth is the only thing i have written is a chapter on working with interns in a forthcoming book – College Ministry From Scratch. sorry, i know that stinks. the hyper downside of publishing!