by Tom Herrick

One of the sessions in last year’s EQUIP!2019, the DOMA pre-Synod conference, focused on inviting young adults to spend the summer working as interns at our churches. In that session, Mike Seawright and Wes Buckley, who serve on staff at Truro, gave multiple reasons why each of our churches ought to invest in summer interns (You can find their talks here – Note: the entire recording is excellent and well worth hearing, but their talks begin at the time stamp 21:40). As Mike and Wes made clear, having interns brings numerous benefits, both to the church and to the interns.

For the church, Mike named 5 benefits we would do well to consider:

• Interns bring fresh eyes. It’s easy to grow weary over time and succumb to the temptation of doing the same things in the same ways. Interns often see things differently and bring their own energy and creativity, resulting in a different perspective with fresh ideas.

• Interns can multiply the impact of our ministry. Having more “hands on deck” allows us to do more things and often in better ways.

• Interns can fill in for staff and ministry leaders to give them a well-deserved rest during the summer months. Recharging during the summer brings our volunteers back in the fall ready to go and excited to get started again.

• Internships give opportunities for growth to young leaders. Senior leaders are sometime hesitant to entrust ministry to inexperienced but emerging leaders. But when the interns are church members, they know and understand the culture of the church, its expectations, and how things are normally done, thus reducing the risks of things going wrong. Invitations to step into places of responsibility send valuable messages to the next generation: they belong here; what they think and feel is important; their contributions matter.

• Investing in young people also ensures that our churches will have a fresh group of leaders filling out the ranks.

Besides the benefits to the church, an internship is also very helpful for the interns. Brigid Smullen was one of eight young adults that spent their summer ministering in one of four DOMA congregations this summer. When I asked her what her summer internship meant to her, she wrote a beautiful testimony that listed numerous reasons that every church in our diocese needs to hear (you can read it in its entirety here). I’ve chosen seven of them that deeply blessed me. I’ll let her share them in her own words:

1.     “The internship this summer provided me with amazing opportunities for growth and exploration both spiritually, emotionally, and mentally.” Although she expected something very different when she interviewed for this internship, being forced to do everything virtually helped her to grow in her “ability to adapt to new situations and challenges.”

2.     “One of the largest things that I gained was a large appreciation for how a church functions… I immediately noticed as I became a part of the church workforce just how many people, specialties, and steps go into creating a functioning church and community…Every person has individual strengths, and every member of a team utilizes and leans on the strengths of themselves and others to create the best possible product. Throughout the course of this summer, I became more confident in my strengths, and became more open to accepting the strengths and specialties of others.”

3.     “In addition to these things, my internship this summer opened the door to becoming more confident and affirmed in my faith… I truly realized how important my faith is to me.”

4.     “I am leaving this internship heading into the uncertainty of this coming school year knowing that I am part of God’s kingdom. The kingdom of a God who desires to have a relationship with me and wants me to turn to Him in all moments of my life, good and bad.”

5.     “…By explaining the gospel and glory of God to children, I was able to fully grasp the messages and love of the gospel myself. It truly is amazing how abstract or seemingly incomprehensible concepts can be broken down to the core of their truths.”

6.     “This internship provided me with opportunities to lead in ways I had never done before. I led my first official Bible Study and learned that I have a love for studying scripture that I hadn’t realized… I have become more confident in my ability to share the gospel and the impact of Jesus in my own life with others. I’ve learned that you don’t have to be perfect or have all of the context and information in order for your takeaways to be shared with others.”

7.     “By meeting through Zoom with the other interns in the area, I was encouraged and uplifted to meet with people my age who share the same passion and love for their faith and using their gifts to help others. Overall, this summer and my internship with Truro was a blessing from God that provided me with immeasurable spiritual, mental, and emotional growth and development.”

Let me summarize Brigid’s seven reasons for you:

1. Opportunities for Spiritual, Emotional, and Intellectual Growth

2. Appreciation for the Body of Christ

3. Growing confidence in faith

4. Deeper relationship with God

5. Greater understanding of and love for the Gospel

6. Leadership Development

7. Fellowship with others who share the same passion

If you were asked what experiences you’d like to give your college students, I’d be surprised if anyone could come up with a better list! Please reflect on these reasons as you make plans for next summer. (You can find out more about what it takes to begin a summer internship program at your church here.)

If we are to respond effectively to the challenges we’re facing in our post-COVID world, one of the most important shifts we can make is to put a higher priority on investing in our young people to help them develop their gifts for ministry. My hope and prayer is that more of our churches will decide to make this investment. It’s one that will pay huge dividends for our churches and for our future leaders.

The Rev. Dr. Tom Herrick, Canon for Church Planting, Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic