The summer internship program for the Great Plains Conference in 2020 will be calling on local churches to help identify potential leaders.
Applications have opened for the 10-week internships in youth ministry, kids ministry and pastoral ministry, as well as the Micah Corps program.
For 2020, churches are being asked to look within their congregations for potential leaders and apply for a matching grant of up to $1,750 for a full-time intern that will assist in their church.
The Great Plains Conference's 2019 interns gather for orientation at Camp Chippewa. Photo by David Burke
“We have focused on possibilities that we think can provide the most impact to churches and provide a place for young adults to invest in ministry for the summer,” the Rev. Ashlee Alley Crawford, clergy recruitment and development coordinator, said.
The conference will still select three young people to be placed outside of their home churches elsewhere in the Great Plains, Crawford said.
“We have churches who are looking for resources, and we think that this is a good position to meet their needs,” she said. “We want to ultimately cultivate that need for a ministry in the local church with the young adults to offer something.”
The internships, particularly for youth and kids, could be adjusted to part-time status said the Rev. Melissa Collier Gepford, intergenerational discipleship coordinator.
“For kids and youth ministry, sometimes it’s a little difficult to think about a full-time intern opportunity, so we are offering part-time opportunities, too,” Gepford said. “If a church wants to have a part-time intern, we will match what they will pay for those hours.”
The interns will gather for an opening retreat May 20-22 before they begin their duties, she said.
“They’ll get training at the conference level, and they’ll be going back to their congregations where they’ll do most of their continued work with a local supervisor,” Gepford said. Those supervisors are expected to meet weekly with their intern for guidance, reflection, and leadership development. The supervisor will develop the internship’s plans for the summer at the local level and work directly with the intern to implement it.
The conference’s Micah Corps program for social justice ministry will return to its roots, said the Rev. Kalabi Chali, mercy and justice coordinator.
“We’re going back to more educational than the practical experience we tried last time,” he said.
Six to eight interns would spend the 10 weeks working on their spiritual practices, engage in linking faith with social justice action, speak in churches and travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with the General Board of Church and Society as well as Nebraska and Kansas legislators and staff.
The deadline for applications for the internships and Micah Corps is March 1.
The Great Plains Conference's 2019 interns gather for orientation at Camp Chippewa. Photo by David Burke
