TL552A-C Samples

• Sample Internship Agreement
• Sample Goals in Spiritual Formation
• Sample Experience in Ministry Report
• Sample Progress in Spiritual Formation

SAMPLE INTERNSHIP AGREEMENT

The Internship Agreement includes:

• What the church expects of you--the job for which you are paid
• Your learning goals--what you hope to accomplish and how to measure progress
• Your supervisor's contribution to your overall learning experience

Job Title:  Youth Pastor 

Church or Organization:  Bethel Community Church

Address:  1234 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA  92115

Student's Name:  Juan Gomez

Supervisor's Name and Telephone:  Rev. Claude Monet (619)456-7890

Beginning Date:  October 10, 2001

Ending Date:  June 10, 2002

PART ONE - THE JOB DESCRIPTION

You may attach a copy of the church's printed job description, or you may write out what you have been asked to do:   State the specific ministry skills that the student intends to learn.

Administration:   Learn to Program Youth Activities Under the Guidance of a C.E. Board.

1. Supervise and organize programs and activities for junior and senior high youth.   Supervise and organize to a lesser degree the activities of the college-age class.
2. Contact youth pastors or sponsors from other churches; organize cooperative activities with these churches.
3. Report to the Christian Education Board on a monthly basis to report on the status of the youth program.

Visitation and Counseling:   Become Proficient in Campus Pastoral Visitation and Relational Evangelism

1. Visit with members of youth and college or career groups in their homes as appropriate.
2. Counsel formally or informally with members of the youth and college or career groups as individuals indicate the need or desire.   Develop friendships with youth and college and career group members.
3. Develop a plan for reaching out to youth and college or career persons who are not involved  in a church.

Preaching:   Begin preaching  

1. Be available to preach at certain times as determined by the pastor and deacon board.  Pastor Siu will work closely with me in the process of preparation and delivery.
2. Assist the pastor in conducting Sunday services.   Organize and conduct a communion service with Pastor Siu's guidance.

PART TWO - THE STUDENT'S LEARNING GOALS

In accomplishing these tasks, and in my relationship with my supervisor, I hope to learn:

Administration Skills:

A.  Meet weekly with the lay leaders of the existing junior and senior high youth groups.

1. Plan and encourage participation in a workshop focusing on leading youth (mention a specific book to be studied or a workshop leader you will enlist).
2. Set an example for responsibility and accountability for lay leaders.
3. Provide or assist in securing specific leadership materials for the weekly programs (note here which materials you will use).
4. Lead or participate in one of the youth programs each week.

B.  Meet quarterly with the college/career group.

1. Help the group to find leadership within itself.  encourage the group to do a gifts survey such as "Wesley Spiritual Gifts Questionnaire."
2. Assist in setting up a regular schedule of planning meetings and leadership enrichment.

C.  Plan regular meetings with supervisor to include two sessions on spiritual formation and five sessions on experiences in ministry.

D.  Keep good records of work done, how time is spent and questions raised in order to have a profitable reporting time with supervisor, church board, etc.

Visitation and Counseling:

A.    Establish a plan for visitation/contact with the youth and college/career group members as well as visitors and parents of youth.

B.    Read ______________ and ______________ to help in dealing with the counseling needs of my specific ministry group.

C.    Write letters of welcome to first time visitors to the church when directed to so by the pastor.  Make special visits when requested to do so.

D.    Schedule office hours to be available to those who wish counsel of some kind.  My schedule will be:

            Time:            Place:            Day(s):

E.    Develop sensitivity and prudence in relating to the opposite sex, remembering the vulnerability of the counselee and taking into account my position as a role model for the young people.

Preaching:

A.    Preach on these dates (List dates requested by the pastor/church board):

B.    Take the worship class at Bethel Seminary San Diego as preparation for Sunday service planning.

C.    Read ______________ and ______________.

D.    Have sermons evaluated (also fulfilling part of the field education requirement for sermon evaluations: see Sermon Evaluation forms for student and observers).

E.    Assist the pastor in worship services (include dates and responsibilities assigned).

F.    Evaluate participation with supervisor.

G.    Submit a worship service plan for the supervisor's evaluation.

PART THREE - CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS

Time Commitments

A. Responsibilities will require the youth pastor to spend twenty hours per week in church related activities.   This includes the Sunday services but does not include travel time to and from the church.

B.  Part of the time will be spent at the church either organizing youth programs or being available for counseling.

Financial Agreements

A.  Salary will be $1,000.00 per month.

B.  Car allowance will be $.50 per mile for church related ministry.

C.  IRS considerations:   employee of church, or   self-employed      

Vacation

A. Normally the church does not grant vacation for staff positions of less than a year's duration.

B.  By agreement with the pastor and church board, two days away will be granted during the Christmas season and during spring break.

PART FOUR - VALIDATION

Pastor's signature    Date

Student's signature Date              __   

SAMPLE GOALS IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Please include the following at the beginning of your paper:              

• Your name
• Your supervisor's name (include signature at end of report)
• The name of the church or agency where you are serving
• Your area of ministry involvement

I committed my life to Christ at age 11.   My understanding of that commitment has grown, but as I contemplate a life of ministering to others, I know that a much greater spiritual depth is required.   My first pastor was a great spiritual influence upon me and helped me to begin to maintain a devotional life.   My parents were of great help in that they were faithful to the church and encouraged me to be also.   In recent years I have discovered a body of devotional literature that has been very helpful to me, including Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ , and the books of Henri Nouwen, particularly Creative Ministry and The Wounded Healer.   Working for a time with inner-city youth has helped me to grow spiritually and also to know that I have difficulty understanding many times the problems faced by others from different cultures and backgrounds. 

I feel a great need to have more time with God, and I struggle with that, especially during the seminary terms.   It seems that studies, work, family, and rest all compete with my devotional life and I feel that I am always neglecting something.   This is frustrating and sometimes debilitating, and I feel that I don't do a good job at anything.   I am sometimes neglecting my studies to build devotional life and sometimes putting time with God aside in order to complete an assignment.   I need to learn how to understand the balance or the integration of these needs.

It has been suggested that I could integrate study and devotional reading so that they need not compete with one another but rather be complementary.   Remembering that as I handle the holy Word of God, whether in preparation for class or just reading, God can speak to me and bless my heart is one of my major goals for this year.   I would also like to begin to systematically read, even in small increments, the great classics of devotional literature.   A discipline for me may be to delete something from my time schedule which God will show me does not really belong there, or perhaps to learn to recognize that quality time does not always mean quantity time.

SAMPLE EXPERIENCE IN MINISTRY REPORT

An Actual Report by a Bethel Intern 

Please include the following at the beginning of your paper:

• Your name
• Your supervisor's name (include signature at end of report)
• The name of the church or agency where you are serving
• Your area of ministry involvement

"DEALING WITH CRITICISM "

I.             BACKGROUND

As part of this supervised ministry project I am part of what is called the "Lay Intern Committee" consisting of several members of the congregation who meet on a regular basis to discuss my performance in areas that we have chosen to evaluate.   We meet bi-weekly on Wednesday nights, and have selected four major areas to be evaluated ‑ worship, sermons, public relations, and visitation.

II.           ANALYSIS

The first meeting was spent in discussing the goals of the group as outlined in our supervised ministry handbooks, and the specific areas to be evaluated.   The second meeting went very well, and all of the comments and suggestions were positive in nature and very encouraging.   It was during the third meeting that I encountered feelings and thoughts that led to the writing of this paper.   Shortly after the meeting began, our attention turned to the subject of worship, and the first thing mentioned was that someone had overheard a comment that the services were a little long.   We then discussed whether this was due to the length of the sermon or other areas of the service.   When we turned to the sermon, someone mentioned that I tended to repeat myself too much, that perhaps I read through the scripture readings in too great a detail, and that I used the word "O.K." too often, which was found to be distracting.

III.          EVALUATION

After thinking about these comments, I knew that they were all valid, and I had already been consciously working on shortening the length of the worship service.   What surprised me was my internal emotional reaction to these criticisms.   I think that part of the problem is that they were not delivered in a way that I am used to, especially after working with my present supervisor, my previous supervisor, the Bethel staff, and the pastors over the years, who have been very gentle and considerate in their delivery.   The comments made at the meeting were not rude or mean in any way, and were sincerely meant to help me, and I was just surprised to see myself react by feeling a little hurt and defensive.   While I didn't show any of this on the outside, I certainly felt it on the inside.

IV.          INTERPRETATION

Personal Maturation

I am accustomed to receiving criticism from people who tend to build you up a bit before delivering the blow, which didn't happen in this case.   I think that since I had received nothing but praise and positive remarks up to that point, I felt a little hurt, discouraged and defensive at the time, even though I knew that the comments were good and would benefit me and the congregation in the long run.

My reaction to the situation was to listen to and discuss the remarks during the meeting, and to do my best to work on these areas before the next worship service.   I was happy to find that Sunday's service concluded promptly at the one hour mark, that I repeated myself only rarely, and that I didn't use the word "O.K." at all.   Overall, I feel the worship was better and my sermon was much more effective because of my concentration on these areas that needed improvement.

Theological Integration

This experience brought to mind two ideas that are found in the book of Proverbs.  One is that a wise person can give a word of correction or criticism in such a way that it is acceptable to the one receiving it.   And on the other hand, it is a wise person who can listen to the counsel of others and benefit from it, rather than to become defensive and angry and reject the advice.

Spiritual Formation

This experience forced me to ask myself why I became emotionally upset over such harmless suggestions that were expressed with nothing but my best interest in mind.   I was again reminded that there will be many instances in life and the ministry when I will encounter criticism, and my feeling of self worth must certainly be grounded in my relationship with God, and not on the opinions of people.

Skill Development

Despite my inward feelings, I felt that I handled the criticisms well, asked for clarification where needed, and then did my best to correct the situation.   In the immediate situation, I did not react negatively, and then as I worked on the worship service and sermon, I kept the suggestions in the front of my mind, and the result was a much better outcome on Sunday.

REMINDERS:

1. If your report involves specific people, please use initials only when referring to them to preserve confidentiality of the parties involved.
2. Supervisor margin notations and signature are imperative!

SAMPLE PROGRESS IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Please include the following at the beginning of your paper:

• Your name

• Your supervisor's name (include signature at end of report)

• The name of the church or agency where you are serving

• Your area of ministry involvement

Setting goals in spiritual formation plus the encouragement and suggestions of my pastor/supervisor have been very helpful to me during this internship.   I am glad for the title to this paper, for it reminds me that no one ever "arrives" at spiritual perfection.   We are always "pressing on" as Paul says in Philippians 2:12-14.

My journey throughout this internship has had its high and low points.   Sometimes I have been able to maintain the schedule I set for myself, and sometimes the pressures of assignments, family, work, or illness threw me completely off.   I do feel, however, that I have a better understanding of the need to balance all my commitments, especially my family's needs, and trust God to help me to know how that may be accomplished.   I have begun reading the devotional classics on a limited basis.   I have set a pattern there and have found that reading short portions aloud with a friend, my wife or prayer partner has enhanced this experience.

Perhaps the greatest progress has been in realizing that the study of church history, Hebrew, Greek, Educational Methods and other seminary disciplines all have devotional value, and that is why they are included in the seminary curriculum - to make me a fully equipped servant of God.   The key is for me to continue to see them and treat them in that way.

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