As I begin to do some of the many projects that are necessary each fall, I am often too busy to sit down and reflect on how the previous months have gone. This year the Lord allowed our church to have a summer internship program and I felt it beneficial to make time for evaluation much earlier in my schedule.
Summer is an amazing time of fellowship and often more laid back ministry. For years I have had a burden to be able to assemble a summer internship program and this past year the church voted to make it a possibility. One of the reasons that I feel so strongly about this ministry is the impact we can have on the future ministries of these college men that spend their summer with us.
With that in mind, I have 4 observations:
- The future of the church is bright
- having two young men (one a recent college graduate and one heading to his senior year of college) minister alongside me for the past 11 weeks showed me a glimpse of future. During this election cycle, we hear a lot of doom and gloom, and unfortunately this attitude is even present in churches across our nation. I hear comments about how the church is dying, etc. but after spending time with our interns and seeing their heart for the Lord and the church, I am encouraged. My excitement to see the Lord do great things in the lives of young people has never been stronger. The potential impact the next generation can have for the Lord is massive, and I can't wait to watch it.
- Churches need to be investing in practical training for men interested in ministry
- Each week we spent time just taking over practical ministry issues. These meetings revealed to me a need to show our young people a "behind the scenes" picture of how churches work. Our churches tend to emphasize the Sunday service (and we should) but we neglect to explain to people how the rest of the ministry works. If we are going to hand over the keys to next generation, we might want to show them how it works. This training really can't be done in a college setting. It has to happen in the local church.
- Internship programs are a lot of work
- This wasn't a negative! Bringing in 2 people to your ministry who don't know who you are, or what you do, or why you do it, makes for a learning curve. It meant time invested in getting to know them, their background, their personalities, etc. It meant reviewing schedules and event details, etc. I am grateful for all God accomplished in their lives and in our church over this summer. My schedule this summer was more different than it has ever been in ministry. So many things changed, even when I wasn't preaching there others things that needed to be done. But it was one of the best summers of ministry as well.
- Internships were a blessing to my heart as a pastor!
- I can't express how much I was blessed this summer. When I wanted to start this ministry, my goal was to be a blessing to 2 college students, give them practical ministry opportunities, and help them financially with their college school bill. But as the summer moved along, I think I may have been the one that got the biggest blessing. The Lord knew what I needed and used these men to encourage my heart. I was a blessing to hear them preach, or watch them interact with our church people, or to see them observe various needs and them meet them.
As I sit in my now quiet office, back to the routine of fall, I am grateful for the summer God allowed our church to experience. I can't say that every summer will be as good as this one, or that every intern will exhibit a heart to learn or grow. But I can say that this summer God blessed our church with 2 men that were an encouragement to us. Hopefully we ministered to them as much as they ministered to us.
On a side note, I am beginning the process of recruiting 2 people for next summer, so if you know somebody pass along the information!
