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By Doug Fields
9/10/2007
What we have given them is a team to join (either junior high, high school or college), a house to live in (they live with families from our church) a community to belong to and training. It has been a great benefit to our church, our student ministry and to the interns as well.Right? You might be thinking, "Our church doesn't even have a youth ministry budget...why would they pay for an intern?" It's a fair question! But, why does the church have to pay for an intern?
I would also like more information on this type of internship program. I am in my 5th Year of Youth Ministry and did not intern before I applied for this job. As a part-time Youth Minister, I need others who would be fully invested and passionate about this ministry like I am, but my church is unable to pay anyone else. I am at a Catholic Church so I know it works a little differently because we typically don't have more than one Youth Minister or even interns but I think this would be something worth looking into
Ray 12:12:02pm on 12/08/2009
OffensiveTo get summer intern experiences is the good idea for students. These experiences should be useful for them in future. Like summer intern, mcdba certification, itil certification will also useful in future professional life. That’s why taking summer intern and it certification is not a bad idea. These should return us something in the shape of benefits.
reya67 4:07:54am on 7/28/2009
OffensiveI love the idea of interns and I see some negative comments here and there but the reality is when it comes to ministry if I am called I do what it takes. I wish I could have done an internship before I dove into ministry but at the age of 18 I became the youth pastor at a small church for $50 a week you know how I survived, I WORKED. I would do my youth ministry then I would wait tables or cook at a restaurant. I did whatever I could to share the Good News that Jesus put in my heart. I think that asking interns to utilize the people that God has placed in their lives to help support them is an Awesome idea and 10 years into ministry I am going to be adopting this approach in this ministry. Blessings, ZC
zac 9:07:18am on 7/21/2009
OffensiveI know this is an older post but I'm very interested to hear Saddleback's findings on this subject. I'm the director of a non profit organization that reaches young ppl. I'm not a church am closely tied to one. Please email me.
Gabriel Smith 9:07:13pm on 7/06/2009
Offensivewow...surprised by that bitter comment...Here's the thing. An intern is an intern - not a pastor. They are there to do work, yes. But they are also taking up quite a bit of time for training and equipping. Remember that an intern is there to learn. So while I understand some of the frustrations with raising money, the question becomes how valuable is your training to you? Let's face it, you learn much more on how to actually "do" ministry than you ever will from paying 15,000 a year to sit in a classroom and listen to "youth ministry guru's" who may or may not have ever been youth pastors. I'm all about getting some assistance to train some future leaders.
JD 1:03:42pm on 3/19/2009
OffensiveI think if Sadleback Church cannot afford to pay interns, they must be doing something very wrong with their money. If they don't want to pay interns they should just say so, they are not a small church that is unable to pay interns, they simply do not want to.
Archie Flattot 11:02:24pm on 2/24/2009
OffensiveI think this is a great idea. Even small churches like ours could afford to house and feed an intern even if they can't afford to pay them. I am very interested.
Charles Wallis 4:05:16pm on 5/29/2008
OffensiveI agree with many here in saying that this would be a great resource. We have had interns for years, but never a real structured program. We would love to take this to the next level and many of the products you all have put out so far have helped us to do just that. BRING IT ON!
John Kuzins 10:05:02am on 5/08/2008
OffensiveI have an internship this summer with a church that can't afford to pay me and I have to raise support. I also find the idea of raising support to be very intimidating. I don't have a large network, half of the network I do have won't support a Christian/religious cause, and there are people who ethical issues with the idea of the money they donate ending up being a paycheck for someone. To add to that, my own personal feelings are that if I got a part time job, I could support myself and people could donate that money to the churches ministries. But on the other side of things, raising support can be a very spiritual issue. By raising support I have come to a place where I have to put my trust in God that even though my network is small and anti-Christian, that he will provide for me and give me enough. By raising support, those who do support me will most likely also be praying for me. But by asking a person to support me with funds and prayers, I am inviting people to enter into the ministry with me. I can see both sides of the coin, but as I think about it. Raising support stretches a person, leads them to a place where they have to let go and let God, and I'm pretty sure it increases their prayer life, haha.
Amanda 10:04:00pm on 4/15/2008
OffensiveOur church has run a one year intern program for the past 8 years. We bring 8 different interns on board every year. It is a huge cost. We provide housing and transport, and for the first 4 or 5 years we provided a 400 dollar stipend. Tight but workable for them. Then due to financial crunches we tried to do a raised support approach. That year the amount of applications we received was about 10% of what we normally received. Part of our problem is our location (Hawaii), it is far and expensive, but it's also a major attraction to applicants. I disagree with the idea that they'll be more serious about it if they raise support, that proved to not be true these two years we've done the raised support avenue. We're going back to the stipend next year. Aside from that, it's been a huge benefit to our congregation and the lives of many of the interns themselves.
Jeremy 6:04:34pm on 4/03/2008
OffensiveFrom the perspective of the church, this sounds great! Why pay interns to spend many many hours and invest so much into our congregation if we can just get them to voluntarily do it! But these interns can volunteer anywhere then. They also have to be able to support themselves. Unfortunately life costs money. They are already devoting their time, and perhaps career and life, to ministry. If they raised their own money, then they might as well work for those that are supporting them, since the congregation that they will be serving in obviously doesn't support them. Why don't we just not pay any church workers? They can all just raise their own support. An intern invests a lot of their time into ministry, just as full-time church workers do, so since you are expecting interns then to take the time and energy to raise their own support and energy from elsewhere, then why not just have every church worker do that?
Jordan 10:04:25pm on 4/02/2008
OffensiveI will be interning at a congregation for one year starting this summer. I thank God that the congregation will be fully supporting me. College is already going to be costing me upwards of $90,000 for the purpose of being a certified Christian educator. The passion to do youth ministry has driven me to already raise funds and take out loans for college. If I had to raise my own money for an internship it just wouldn't happen. There are already so few church professionals out there because of how much it costs to make it through a program. Why put even more stress on these students who will one day be the future of the church?
Andy 2:04:08pm on 4/02/2008
OffensiveWe do pay a college student for a short term internship for our Vacation Bible School. This entails youth ministry as teens are our counselors. The local high school has facilitated an unpaid internship for 4 weeks this Spring for a H.S. senior. Baby steps here.
Nicole 11:04:46am on 4/02/2008
OffensiveIt's almost 6 months since this article and it would be great to have some further thoughts on internships. We are planning on starting our intern programme in the next academic year. Thoughts on training, managing and scheduling for interns would be great.
Matt 5:04:58am on 4/01/2008
OffensiveAs a college student who is looking for internships in the summer, the idea of raising my own support is daunting. This is especially so because I am doing an internship in my community, but not at my own church. This raises issues about who I can ask to support me since it is at a "rival" church. While I do not have a family to support, I am paying my own way through college. I feel that if the church asks an intern to raise their own funds, they should be willing to match AT LEAST a quarter of what the intern raises. It should not just be "free labor". And we all know that youth ministry is not always the most "fun".
T. Marie 1:03:13pm on 3/29/2008
OffensiveThis is a passion of mine. I'm glad to see the interest level here. The unpaid intern who raises their own support places a high value on their growth and the level of their investment. This type of program also increases the possiblility of "weeding out", if you will, those who believe they might be getting paid to "have fun". I would love to gain from others insight in this type of program.
Chad 12:03:17pm on 3/28/2008
OffensiveI would love to gain some insight on developing an internship program. I would be interested in ideas on how to create an internship program that is more than just free labor. What types of personal/spiritual/ministerial development should be required? Also, ideas on how to sell my church on starting an internship program would be a big asset.
Caleb 1:03:52pm on 3/24/2008
OffensiveI am currently getting ready to do an internship that is not paid. One of the reasons I am doing it at this particular church is the fact that with a wife and 4 month old son it's hard to find a place to intern that pays well and can accommodate my family and me. The other reason is that we are staying with my wifes family. But still I am going to have to find a part-time job on top of a 40+ work week at the church an be at home with my family. So my 2cents would be for you to consider the non-traditional youth interns as well, not all of us are single college students. Other than that, great idea for single interns. God Bless
Nathan Ratcliff 8:03:22pm on 3/22/2008
OffensiveI think that would be wonderful. We're looking to develop a intern program within the youth ministry at my church. So any advice that you can gives us would be a big help.
shayla 7:03:16pm on 3/17/2008
OffensiveAs someone looking for my own summer internship, I think that is a great resource. Make sure you include something about promotion. Truthfully, yes, students will look to see if an internship will pay them, but if you limit them to say 20-30 hours a week and can help them with room and board they can always try for another part-time job. Hint-hint: Colleges like to tell students about internship opportunities, try them as resources.
Linda 6:03:26am on 3/16/2008
OffensiveI have had youth interns in the past, but I am always looking to make our intern experience the best it can be. There is not a lot of stuff out there. When I started our program I called churches, Young Life, etc. and but something together. But where I am at now money is the problem.
Scooter Buck 6:03:30pm on 3/14/2008
OffensiveWe would definitely be interested! We do place interns in youth ministries every year in our area, but the first subject that always comes up and the biggest obstacle is always the funding. Your ideas are very thought-provoking.
Kevin Dougherty 1:03:50pm on 3/12/2008
OffensiveI can't wait to see the resource. It was just what I was starting to try and figure out. An answer to a prayer before it was formed into a completed thought.
dianneeh 2:03:36am on 3/11/2008
OffensiveI would be very interested in the product. I am intrigued by the idea of the interns raising their own support... My greatest questions center around what responsibilities are good to start with and tools to develop/train/equip and advice on the areas to focus on first. Thanks for your willingness!
Dave Kratz 9:02:44pm on 2/26/2008
OffensiveSimply Youth Ministry is working on a new resource called Interns From Start To Finish. It will be out in the summer.
Andy Brazelton 11:01:59pm on 1/29/2008
OffensiveThis would be an amazing asset. Our youth group is just beging to grow and I need to know how to attract the right interns.
Tim G 4:01:33pm on 1/28/2008
OffensiveI just started thinking about one for our ministry and have NO CLUE where to start. I really don't want to be a "user." Help would be awesome.
Josh Petersen 9:01:18am on 1/24/2008
OffensiveThat would be a GREAT resource! I have been trying to come up with a way to develop a training program while amping up the youth ministry. Any advice would be awesome.
Cliff F 8:01:07pm on 1/02/2008
Offensive
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