Internship Project: Does Your Church Read?

INTERNSHIP TRUTHS
It is funny how through out the ten years of me discerning my call to ministry, no one has ever really explained what it means to be a vicar. According to survivors, it is just like being an intern at any other orgaization. In other words, you work really hard and work really long hours for a humble living stipend. They say this is the year you really experience working as a pastor in a congregation full time. As I may have mentioned before, most of my colleagues are in financially stable congregations that can afford to host a vicar. A handful across the U.S. may be at a horizon domestic site which is the equivalent of being a small missional congregation with a need for developing ministries. Then of course there are four of us serving at horizon international sites in Germany, Bratislava, Chile, and Argentina. Regardless of placement, each and every one of us is required to complete a internship Project during this year. We are given the following options:

 

• Ecumenism/ Ecumenismo
• Stewardship/ Mayordomia
• Lay Ministry/ Ministerio Laico
• Social Ministry/ Ministerio Social
• Evangelism/ Evangelismo
• Other

 

When I first received the internship handbook I looked at these options and though very hard about my interests and my gifts. I have an MBA, stewardship should be a breeze. On the other hand, I am a social butterfly and love organizing events. This past year I worked as a Community Projects Coordinator for a Philadelphia Charter School, service is my middle name. Anyway the point is I was already doing it wrong. That is NOT how you do ministry and I was checked at the door right before I left for Argentina. During a skype meeting with my Supervisor, Director of Contextual Education, ELCA Global Missions staff, and Vice President of IELU I distinctly heard the director read off the Project options and say "This is like a gift to the congregation that should be able to continue after the intern leaves. Think very hard about what the congregation needs and make sure you put Nikki to work." Crap. Now normally when  pastor comes into the parish, the six months to a year is normally time to work hard, and learn the congegation. Of course this is not universal as many pastors come in and get right to spring cleaning. At San Lucas I do not have the luxury of time nor am I the pastor so I will take the learn as I go option.

Where Do We Begin? 

Week One consisted of obvservations and questions. What ministries do we have here? How do we interact with the community and our ecumenical neighbors? Do we have a (secretary/ choir/ musician/ after school/ etc) here? When I was alone I explored different rooms on the main level. Two empty and underutilized spaces. Both need to be cleaned. Storage space is available all over with the smell of rain from the 80´s. I felt like I struck gold thinking these spaces can be spaces of community and stewardship. All I saw was potential. But this is not about what I want, this is a ministry of the church.

 

"Pastora Eva, como parte mi trabajo aquí esta crear un proyecto para la congre que lo continua después yo salgo. Este es un listo de opciones. ¿Que esta la falta de la congre?"

 

"En realidad, todo."

 

What do you do when the need is greater than a project proposal? I am thankful that I have had such great mentors in my life that have dragged me to church meetings and plenary sessions. Let´s take a second then to prioritize the needs. Before we did that she referenced the Línea Estratégico of IELU 2015- 2020.

 

1. Ser iglesia de comunidades evangelizadas y evangelizadoras

To be church of evangelical communities and evangelical people

 

2. Ser iglesia con espiritualidad comprometida y diaconal

To be church with spiritual commitment (faith) and service

 

3. Alentar, fortalecer, y reconocer los ministerios según los donnes

To foster, to strengthen, and to recognize the ministries according to the gifts

 

 

4. Ser iglesia que vive la comunión y fortalece la comunicación

To be church that lives communion and strengthens communication

5. Promover una mayordomia de la iglesia que desarrolle la sustentabilidad en un marco de comunión

To promote stewardship of the church that develops sustainability in the mark of communion

 

 

Slowly things began to unravel. San Lucas though has many gifts and ministries running, is a reflection of the greater church. The 5 points listed was very much the voice of all churches and what they needed to develop in order to survive. That changed how I perceived my internship project. Not because I now felt compelled to save IELU with my magic American wand. (Though for a second I did have to check my privilege recognizing that I come from a church that literally develops resources around these topics on an annual basis.) In the past I have had the tendency to take on a project and struggle with asking for participation from others to lead and to créate. I literally cannot foster this type of project on my own. Resources need to be available and members of the community need to be engaged. What we do this year must be tangible and continue to be accesible in order for others to grow and build on it. Here was the order of priority for San Lucas.

 

 Ministerio Laico

Ministerio Social (diaconía)--------Evangelismo

Mayordomia

Ecumenismo

 

* If we develop the lay ministry, everything else will fall into place. A developed lay ministry can manage social ministry projects that influence evangelism. Stewardship can be taught in developing a lay ministry team. We are not only financially responsible for our congregation but spiritually and environmentally responsible to to our community. As we continue to take ownership over the greater Grand Bourg community, our relationships with our ecumenical neighbors will grow as well*

 

 

In hindsight it is quite hilarious that I ended up at a site with a need for lay ministry development as that was the one ministry I had absolutely no interest in doing this year. God is funny indeed. Thankfully the last congregation I served had a very exciting team of lay people running the church in aid of Pastor. So now that I have witnessed a strong lay ministry, have access to lay ministry resources on www.elca.org/resources, and have also spoken to enough mission developers to know how a pastor needs to be supported, I have become quite excited for this project. As  of today I have no idea exactly how this will look but I have started this work by doing the following things:

 

• Gather and sort through resources
• Request and analyze the present church calendar
• Ask follow up questions
• Take inventory of members that are present throughout the week
• Create a very rough anual calendar of tangible goals

GOALS
September: Create a library.
October: Offer Talents Inventory
November: Begin Teaching.
December: Challenge congregation to a special Advent Offering.
January- February: Summer Preparations
March: Initiate Lay Ministry led bible study of Macedonia during Lent
April: Encourage Easter Diaconia Project
May: Continue Teaching
June: Begin Stewardship Campaign for Pentecost
July: Social Stewardship Project
August: Work with Lay Ministry to finalize 2018-2019 Ministry Calendar


September: DOES YOUR CHURCH READ?

What is the easiest thing to do when you are still trying to get to know a congregation? Clean. Clean with purpose. I took on the task this month to créate a library in the office after looking at the ever so slight disfunction happening in the bookshelves. What books are there? Are they usable for teaching? Luther was both an educator and a scholar. It is in our tradition to teach the bible and make it accessible to all. I spent about 11 hours in the office sorting through books, wiping down shelves and filing paperwork to the best of my ability. I was amazed at this multilingual library filled with hymnals, Christian education resources for all ages, books about liberation theology and social justice. There were books about stewardship and mission. I even found a Hebrew Tanak and a Greek bible. We are fruitful here. I organized the books and labeled each section with the intention of direction more members to the bookcase as we move forward in this Project.

A library serves many purposes for a congregation. It can bring clarity to the struggle parishoner. Did the sermón challenge your theology? Here is where you can read more and begin that internal dialogue about what you believe. The books are available. A church library may be the only access some people have to books. Depending on the área you serve, libraries are not always near by. For some communities the local library may be disorganized or exceptionally limited. You have now provided a local service. The church library can also be aplace of additional resources to the mission of the church. Why do we serve our neighbors? How can we find theological support to the work we are doing? If your congregation has a bible study group, a library can enhance the quality of learning that occurs. Respectfully speaking, the church library does not always need to be Christian either. There is space for additional children's books or non- fiction novels. Creating a library is one of the easier projects to tackle in a church. Whether you are slowly waiting for book donations, purchasing them at thrift stores, or organizing the books you already have, it is manageable and can be done by clergy and lay people alike. Cheers to the library. Cheers to the knowledge that books share and cheers to the hands of the authors that write them.
 

MOVING FORWARD
Next month we will begin hosting Talents and Gifts Inventory sessions every Sunday after church. There is an english form on www.elca.org/resources website that helps members take inventory of their skills. We are hosting it for the month in order to give everyone an opportuntiy to take it. This month I will prepare for this task by translating the document and planning coffee hours for the month. Nothing keeps a lutheran at church like coffee hour. While that is happening next month I will begin to prepare 4 seminars for the month of November to begin training lay people. All the seminars will be in spanish and sent to the church email for future use. We will cover prayer, stewardship, diakonia, and evangelism. The intention is to build a team before the summer so that we can use the free time in the summer to start practicing these tools. The summer will give me time to prepare for the upcoming year and to work more closely with the lay ministry team. This way we are comfortable together going forward. I will continue to talk more about the success and failures that occur with this Project as it will be a first for all of us. It is my hopes this year is well received by the congregation.

#ReclaimMissionary