Ministry in Context

Weekly meetings with your supervisor are important for your formation. Don't let them slack toward the end of internship.

Supervisory session a la Puget Sound. Intern Ben Hilding with Pastor Julie Josund, Edmonds Lutheran Church.

By Amanda Highben

Amanda Highben recently completed her internship at University Lutheran Church in East Lansing, Michigan, with Pastor Fred Fritz as her supervisor. She graciously shared these observations.

When my husband Zeb and I still lived in Minnesota, I was often able to stay up late enough to catch the Top Ten List on the Late Show with David Letterman because it started at 10:30. But once we moved to Michigan I usually missed the Top Ten, as the Late Show doesn’t start until 11:30 …

During Minnesota Foodshare month in March, Augustana Lutheran Church in West St. Paul joined in friendly competition with St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, also in West St. Paul, to see which congregation could raise the most food.

Just to spice things up a little more, Augustana Intern Ingrid Arneson Rasmussen suggested a competition between the pastors of Augustana to see which one of them could get the most food donated in their name. So it was Team Mark (for Pastor Mark Aune) against Team …

By Ben Hilding

Internship is a year to “try on the shoes” of being a pastor within a specific congregation. At the halfway point of my internship at Edmonds Lutheran Church in the Pacific Northwest, I have to admit that perhaps one of my greatest learning experiences has not happened within my internship site at all. Approximately three weeks before internship began, my grandmother informed my wife and me that we were not, in fact, the first people from our family history to spend time …

by Julie Wright

Shortly after I arrived at my internship, my grandfather died unexpectedly. In the midst of beginning a new and exciting internship experience, I witnessed the death of such a dear man – someone who had loved and nurtured me my whole life. As he took his final breath, I held his hand, stroked his hair, marked the cross of Christ upon his brow, and spoke his name. Five days later, as we laid him to rest, I had the great honor of preaching at his funeral and co-officiating at …

It’s the point in the year at which many internships are starting up. This is thrilling for the intern, the supervisor, and the congregation. That excitement is reflected in a letter we received recently from Pastor Phil Gardner at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sandusky, Ohio.

"I am pleased to report that Sharon Brown is on board and getting much more than just her feet wet. Her first official responsibility among us was on Sunday when she participated in the annual blessing of book bags as …

by Michelle de Beauchamp

Our Savior's Lutheran Church is a 900 member church located in Owatonna, Minnesota, which has a population of about 25,000 people. The members of the congregation vary in occupations from farmers, factory workers, teachers, nurses, small business owners to construction workers. It is a congregation that is slowly growing (especially with younger families), and this year the building is being expanded because there is not enough education space for the kids.

When I arrived …

On Sunday, May 22, Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hill Village, Colorado, is canceling two of its worship services in order to provide members and guests with a service opportunity. If someone shows up to worship at the usual 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. worship hours, they may find the building empty. A sign will say that worship is cancelled at these times and that the congregation has joined the service in the neighborhoods of the community.

"Be the Blessing Day!" is Intern …

by Katie Jerebek

Hope Lutheran Church in Fargo, N.D. is a very large congregation, averaging over 2200 worshipers each week. Hope is also the host for a unique brand of internship. Two interns, anchored at Hope, also serve rural/small town congregations and a nursing home. The interns spend 80% of their time in their "dispersed" settings, and 20% of their time at Hope. Pastor Mike Toomey of Hope is their supervisor. One of the interns, Scott Fielder, serves at …

When Lutherans think of Chelan, Washington, most think of Lake Chelan and the entrance to Holden Village. But Chelan is also a community all its own, and home to Lake Chelan Lutheran Church , one of our internship congregations. Paul Palumbo is the pastor supervisor there, and Jeanette Clark the intern. We asked them to help us get acquainted with their ministry in Chelan.

First of all tell us something about yourselves; background, education, experience, family, …