MiT
The Priority of the Gospel How the Gospel is carried forward You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 Reproduce reproducers!
An internship (as proposed) prepares people for Gospel centred, disciple making, word ministry An internship begins the process of theological study rooted in ministry. An internship helps the person learn ministry skills – especially people skills An internship teaches humility – helping the intern be aware of weaknesses and strengths and to depend on God An internship helps the church and the person discern if they are suited to doing this in a long term or are better off being well trained leaders who earn a living outside. (adapted from ‘Passing the Baton’)
MiT provides 2 years of intensive on the job training with time to learn from success and mistakes. This prepares interns for a lifetime of Gospel ministry and helps them, and the church, discern if they are suited to doing this in a long term, full time, paid capacity. Funded interns are given an living allowance/ scholarship. They raise half themselves and the cathedral raises the other half. It is a work in progress as we transition from: a one pastor training model to a team training model informal model to formal model training men to training men and women Most of our ideas are learnt and adapted from the MTS model in Australia. You can read all about it on
Historically: 2005: 1 st Intern from UK : Total of 7 interns trained :MiT formalised and funded
The heart of training is personal and relational. Ministry is primarily ‘caught’ not ‘taught’. But some things are still taught! So MiT seeks to combine informal and formal training - with a map and a checklist as guides to make sure we are covering what we need to.
One to ones: one off and regular Small group leading (including Kidschurch) Projects Evangelism Pastoral care – including welcoming, chasing, following up newcomers etc. Occasional preaching, church/events Mundane tasks Ideal: Find one area of ministry for them to own Feedback!
Weekly Bible study with staff team Weekly or fortnightly formal meeting with mentor Weekly staff training Weekly intern/student training session (topic from ‘map’) Theological training courses (Equip: Th.C or Th.L) Ministry skills courses (in-house, CCEF, CEP) Conferences and seminars (like this!) Informal input opportunities in the team: using the village to bring up a child
Weekly formal training meeting with mentor including reading the Bible, prayer, reflecting on the week gone by, reviewing and planning ministry, reviewing and planning formal training. (Local church pastor) Outsourced formal training: Theological courses (Equip) Ministry Skills courses: Centre for Expository Preaching (CEP), Equip, Christian Counseling Education Foundation (CCEF). Informally: keep looking for opportunities to train! Life to life! Eat together – bring them home. Take them with you on home/hospital visits, preaching trips, denominational meetings etc. (Local church pastor). Occasional: Conferences and seminars (like this!)
You can’t model godliness You don’t have confidence in the Gospel and the Bible You can’t get church and family support You are going to mistreat your intern. Love your intern! You are not prepared to make the effort to train You or your church just wants cheap labour You can’t afford to give the time to it On the other hand, can you afford not to?
Keep looking for potential interns. This means identifying and training lots of people for ministry in your congregation and then looking to see which ones have the character and potential to be trained further. Always prioritise character! Read ‘Passing the Baton’ by Colin Marshall Check out the MTS Website: Also UK apprenticeships: ninethirtyeight.orgwww.mts.com.au ninethirtyeight.org Find out about: CEP Course starting in the second half of 2016 Equip Courses Happy to chat