This morning I met with a young man who is a senior at Cal Baptist University and an intern at his local church. He is helping their church develop a new internship program, so he asked if I had any advice. He asked some really sharp questions, and I hope my answers were equally helpful. If you’re partnering with the BAT program at CBU, or just developing an internship program in general, this may give you some ideas…
Q. What are some of the common pitfalls to avoid in church internship programs?
One of the biggest problems I see is that many interns get pigeon-holed in a particular ministry, and lack breadth. This may happen voluntarily, or at the direction of the church. But it is unwise to spend all your time with a homogenous unit, hanging out with people who look and sound just like you. For example, a youth intern working exclusively with students. Or a worship leader always hanging out with the other musicians.
In Titus 2, Paul emphasized that older men and women are to mentor the younger men and women. I like to see cross-generational ministry happening in any church internship program. It could be that the youth interns do a service project for some seniors in the church, or spend a Friday night babysitting for a young family so the couple can have a date night, then visiting with that family or staying overnight at their house. It could be that you invite someone from a different demographic to share a testimony with your group, or even mentor for your group. When my wife and I were newlyweds in the Young Married’s Bible study at our last church, we were blessed by an older couple who became a sponsor couple, hanging out with us and sharing a good dose of wisdom and experience.
Another challenge for many internships is to find the balance between academic training and practical experience. As you know, many careers — whether teaching, business, medicine, politics, etc. – recognize the value of some kind of internship or residency program. It’s one thing to talk about a subject in the classroom, but it’s another to see it worked out in real life.
Churches have a tendency to go to one extreme or the other. Either they are almost entirely practical, assigning lots of tasks, or they are almost entirely academic, assigning books and papers, but with very little hands-on training. I like to see a balance of both. Think of how Jesus trained his disciples. He did not wait until his ascension to send them out, but throughout the course of his three years of training, he sent them on short term trips, giving them increasing levels of responsibility, while they still continued to learn.
Lastly, I think you need to help students not to bite off more than they can chew. The college years are full of opportunities. And anyone in ministry knows you can easily get overwhelmed by the sheer number of needs and volume of work to be done. This can lead to unrealistic expectations and even a sense of guilt. Only if you keep your priorities straight and depend on God will you be able to endure. Interns need to be coached not to commit to too much, but do a limited number of things with excellence, then stick with it to the end, long after the honeymoon phase is over.
Q. In your experience of working with other churches and seeing various internships, what has stood out as some of the best features?
I love to see churches treating their interns with respect. Interns are not mere gophers or coffee boys, but almost peers. Obviously interns are not full-fledged pastors yet, but I believe they should be given increasing levels of authority as they prove themselves faithful in the small things. I’ll never forget how good it felt to be introduced by one of our elders as a “pastor” for the first time (though I was still an intern in my final year of seminary). It really made me want to rise to the occasion and faithfully carry out such a sacred trust.
Allowing your intern to see a full budget, or make some low-level decisions, or attend a closed session of a staff meeting conveys that they are important, and that you are entrusting them with responsibility and sensitive information. If you aren’t willing to take any risk or give them any responsibility at all, maybe you’ve picked the wrong person to invest your time in and to train up.
Another feature of a really great internship is for the pastor to spend time with his interns and to take them places to learn together, such as a workshop or conference. (If you ever have a Mark Dever sighting at a conference, you’ll likely see his entourage of interns nearby). Take them with you to Shepherd’s Conference, or T4G, or even livestream a conference from the church. Learn together, then share a meal together and talk about what you learned. These are great times for discipleship and build some great camaraderie.
Q. Is there anything we have to do to be in compliance to host Applied Theology students who need an internship?
The short answer is no. There aren’t any specific requirements to be in compliance with the BAT program, other than the church should affirm the Baptist Faith & Message, which I know your church does.
We give our churches broad latitude how they want to form an internship program to fit their church while meeting the goals of the School of Christian Ministries. BAT interns are expected to invest at least 10-12 hours per week in their local church. These hours can be spent however the church deems best, and a Learning Contract will be signed between church supervisor and student at the beginning of each semester. It is helpful when the supervisor reserves time for them to complete any observation reports and to provide whatever information and resources might be necessary (e.g. let them sit in on a staff meeting, view a budget, accompany on a hospital visit, etc.).
It is also important to keep in mind this is a pastoral training program. So while a BAT intern may be helping with your music ministry, youth program, admin, or whatever, the focus of the BAT program is to develop pastors and church ministry leaders. It is most helpful when a church provides regular access to pastors and mentors them in this direction. We are not just training students to preach a sermon or plan an event, but are trying to cultivate hearts who will shepherd God’s flock. In some cases, I think this is forgotten, and as ministry gets busy, the pastor gets busy, and our BAT students get little face-time with them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the senior pastor, but it is nice if the student can meet with a pastor who is involved in shepherding and pastoral care.
Hope this helps!
Pinch Of Clay 