Ministry in Context

For you who are now several months into your internship, has it changed any? I was thinking about you (a common occurrence) this week. It was Thanksgiving weekend, which quickly moves into the Advent-Christmas season. Last year, for most of you this season meant moving from one break to another. Family, friends, feasts, down-time from classes. This year? Well, your life is probably more like breakneck speed than break time.

A person with a gift for gross over-simplification …

Zion Lutheran Church of Amor , Battle Lake, Minn., has been in mission in Otter Tail County, part of "Minnesota Lake Country" in the northwestern part of the state, for nearly 130 years. It hasn't been welcoming interns for quite that long, but it is definitely an experienced internship congregation. Those privileged to serve their internship at Zion always come back knowing that they were blessed by being in this supportive congregation. We tried to get to …

Here we are in Advent, that hectic and joyous period time. We'll celebrate Christmas as families gather for gala celebrations, great meals and traditional activities. That's great.

But for some interns, this could be a hard time. Some interns might not be going home for Christmas for the first time. They'll be missing out on things they've always done and the people they have always enjoyed these holidays with. If the intern has a family, the intern's spouse will be …

It's time to be thinking about some time targets pertaining to internship. You don't want to get behind early in the year; makes it hard to catch up later. Take these reminders in a good spirit as they apply to those internships that began during the summer.

The Confirmation of Internship Placement should have been completed during the first two weeks of internship.

Learning Goals should have been completed during the first two months of internship.

Your …

When that little fur ball terror known as Abby Gail McKinley, our cairn terrier, was but a pup, I expressed consternation to our vet one day about her boundless supply of energy.

"Don't worry," he said, "when they get to be four years old they start to settle down."

Abby is now seven years old and has shown no sign of settling down. She is still the same terror she always was. (And we love her for it.) I can only conclude that she wasn't listening to the vet. …

Interns and supervisors from Washington, Idaho and Alaska. November 10, 2010: Barbara Gwynn, John and Rachel Simonson, Jeff Russell, Scott Fuller, Katie Emery, Carol Jensen, Ryan Cosgrove, Stephanie Vos, Kathy Hawks, Paul Sundberg, Jeanette Clark, Ethan Hulme, John Bjorge, Justin Mootz, Paul Palumbo, Ann Frerks.