In This Issue You Got Rhythm! An Intern's Christmas Student Learning Around the World She's Not So Dumb We Look Forward to Hearing from You Photo Album Helpful Links Internship Handbook Lay Committee Handbook Internship Forms Evaluation Questions Subscribe to Ministry in Context! Luther Seminary's student newspaper, The Concord Contact Us The Contextual Leadership Initiative staff is here to support you! Contact us with your concerns or suggestions. Steve McKinley, Editor Previous Newsletters Want to re-read an article from a previous issue? Review previous newsletters.

Internship Newsletter: December 2008

You Got Rhythm!
By Rick Foss

Rhythm. A succinct definition would be "measured motion."

Rhythm. It seems like a simple concept. As a musician, I learned to figure out the rhythm and keep the beat. But some rhythms were strange to my ear. As a singer, I discovered that it took intentionality and practice to learn new rhythms.

Rhythm. A longer definition is "flow, movement or procedures, characterized by basically regular recurrence of elements or features..." As a student (long ago now), I learned the regular rhythms of academic life. The rhythms could be rigorous, but there were those delightful "down times" like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Rhythm. As a young single man, I navigated the rhythms of life through my first two years of seminary. Study, work, sleep, play, and eat. Other activities as desired. I had that rhythm down.

Rhythm. On a wonderful June day, I married Nancy. Rhythms changed. Two months later we moved to Montana to begin an internship year. Rhythms changed. It was a wonderful year (particularly as I look back from a distance), but I don't remember it as a smooth year.

Rhythm. What have been your rhythms? Are you encountering new rhythms? I hope so. It may well be that this Christmas season introduces you to some strange new rhythms - rhythms that will be incorporated into your future as a servant leader in the church.

Rhythm. Different rhythms in our lives. Rhythms aren't inherently right or wrong, but some fit better in particular circumstances. I am learning new rhythms in this CLI position, after years of parish ministry rhythms. You may be learning the parish ministry rhythms, after years of academic or business rhythms.

Rhythm. Listen, learn, and practice the new rhythms that God has set before you. There will be moments when they feel strange, but there is a deep holiness to the new rhythms. Soon we will hear the angelic words, "Be not afraid." That pertains to rhythms, too. God be with you.

An Intern's Christmas   
By Donna Duensing

That sounds like the title to a T.V. Christmas special on the Hallmark channel, doesn't it? Each one of you will be able to provide the script. We are hopeful that your script won't be a horror film or a tragedy, but rather heartwarming and inspirational. Therefore, we offer the following "direction" to lay committee members, supervisors, and interns as you write the story of the Intern's Christmas at your site.

The holidays are a time when a host of emotionally charged events unfold. Our personal histories inform, reform, and sometimes deform our experiences at this time of year. Since the intern is in a new place and a new role, intentionally reflecting on his/her expectations will be important. Planning for this new way of life during the Advent/Christmas season can result in not only meeting expectations, but opening the possibilities of experiencing new insights, new births, as well.

We pray that in the midst of the busy-ness of the season, Christ will be born into your heart anew.

To the Intern:

Reflect on what is important to you in your celebrations of Christmas. Name your expectations, especially to yourself. Acknowledge which of those expectations may not be realized this year because of your responsibilities and obligations to the ministry. Grieve what you will lose. Also, list the new opportunities and perspectives that will be yours because of the calling you are pursuing. Many interns have shared how powerful it was for them to participate in the Christmas service in this new role. However, they also expressed the loss they felt at not being with family.

Reflect on what your new role means for your family. Spouses and children may really be shocked at the realization that Christmas won't be the same anymore. Your extended family, your parents, may face your not being "home for the holidays" for the first time. Be attentive in your response to your loved ones' disappointments and creative in finding new patterns for these connections.

Invite your lay committee and supervisor into your reflections. Let them know what issues will be especially difficult for you. Do you want to be included in other people's celebrations? Would you rather have time alone? Ask for what you want/need. If you don't know what you need, share that reality as well.

To the Lay Committee:

Discuss the Christmas "practices" of your church community. What are the events in which the intern will be expected to participate? What special events are part of this community's tradition?

Ask the intern about their plans. Would they like to be included in any of the personal gatherings in the congregation?

To the Supervisor:

Be clear about the expectations around the holidays. If reduced hours are expected/accepted between Christmas and New Years, let the intern know that so that s/he can plan accordingly.

Share ways you have discovered to balance your personal and professional life during this season. It may be helpful to ask your spouse and children what has been most challenging for them as part of a pastor's family at Christmastime. The intern's family may be able to learn from your mistakes and not have to make the same ones.

Student Learning Around the World, January 2009   
By Rod Maeker

As of this writing, 120 students and guests from PLTS, Luther Seminary, Southern Seminary, LSTC, and Wartburg Seminary plan to participate in the Contextual Leadership Initiative Cross-Cultural Experiences offered during January Term 2009. These students will travel to 11 sites around different parts of the world.

In China, ten students will not only visit Beijing and explore some of the traditional religions of China, but will travel to Sichuan Province, where they will encounter the ministry of Chinese churches and the ELCA in recent earthquake zones.

Tanzania hosts one of the fastest growing Lutheran church bodies in the world. Eleven students will engage with the Iringa Diocese and learn about the explosive growth that is happening there.

The Lutheran Center in Mexico City has a vibrant ministry supported by the ELCA. Twelve students will do home stays with Mexican families, explore ministry in that context, and visit important religious sites.

In the Twin Cities, 36 students will engage in experiencing Spanish speaking ministries, participate in Hmong funerals and worship, and learn about the development of an intentional culture in the Twin Cities called Church Based Community Organizing.

Ten students will ride roundtrip on Amtrak to Western North Dakota for exposure to rural ministry and then travel to a different rural context at Shalom Hill Farm in Southwestern Minnesota.

In Los Angeles, 12 students will learn about urban and Hispanic ministries in the largest Spanish speaking community of the United States.

On the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota, 13 students will participate in ministry projects in a Native American Context and experience children and elders who share their community stories.

Through the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Ministry or "SCUPE," 12 students will explore specific multicultural neighborhoods of Chicago and learn about a variety of approaches to diverse ministries.

In Atlanta, four students will engage with urban ministry in an African American setting. Pastoral leadership is explored in the formative community of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Seminary.

She's Not So Dumb   
By Steve McKinley

Much to everyone's regret, I am sure, the 2008 election is over except in Minnesota, where we are still counting ballots. Having served as an election judge, I take this very personally. Fortunately we do not have any chads hanging around to worry about.

I will confess that in the presidential race, I voted for the winner and found Mr. Obama's election thrilling. We are living an historic moment in the history of the United States and I have no trouble celebrating that. As one who cut his churchly teeth during the civil rights movement of the '60s and found that an intensely spiritual experience, I had a few tears in my eyes on election night.

At the same time, I heard talk prior to the election - and am still hearing it - that concerns me for its naivete. The topic: the intelligence of Sarah Palin. Many of my fellow Obama supporters and even some McCain supporters have questioned her intelligence and have delighted in making fun of her numerous gaffes during the campaign. We've looked down our noses at the Alaska governor.

Not so fast, friends. Not so fast. No doubt there are lots of things Sarah Palin does not know that an American vice-president should know. But she is not dumb. She has a kind of intelligence that knows how to connect with people, move people, and inspire them. We might not agree with her, but we have to respect the special kind of political intelligence she does have. In our classic academic terms, candidates I have supported in the past (like John Kerry and Al Gore) were much more intelligent and informed than Sarah Palin is. But they did not have the kind of political intelligence she has when it comes to connecting with voters. We make a terrible mistake when we underestimate the woman.

Now I write all this not simply to make a political point. The key here is the unique kind of political intelligence Sarah Palin has. It is an intelligence she did not develop in any classroom.

The CLI staff has been talking lately about pastoral intelligence and how internship can contribute to the development of that intelligence. In the CLI office in St. Paul, our suite neighbor, professor Chris Scharen, has been doing some great thinking and writing on this topic. A seminary classroom does a marvelous job of sharing knowledge. That is important. But it is not enough for successful ministry. That requires pastoral intelligence.

Pastoral intelligence is what we are all about, and that comes from the regular exposure to the work of the parish pastor, experiencing the pastor's life and developing instincts and intuitions that serve the pastor well in leading the congregation. It is an intelligence just as specialized as political intelligence. We are out to see that intelligence develop. It's a thrilling activity, and we are grateful for the opportunity to work in this area.

We Look Forward to Hearing from You!   

If electronic mailboxes could bulge, the CLI mailbox would be pot-bellied right now, but there is still plenty of room for more correspondence, and we would love to hear from you if we haven't lately. We're looking for things like:

• Learning Service Agreements. Most interns have now been in place for at least two months and should be getting those in.
   
• Project Proposals. After two months you should be developing some idea of what your project will be.
   
• Three month evaluations. By the end of November, most interns will have completed three months in their site. Interns and supervisors should be discussing these evaluations in fruitful conversation prior to submitting the evaluations.

CLI Photo Album   

(Such good lookin' folks!)

San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville welcomed the Northern California fall cluster meeting of interns and supervisors. Front: Sara Isakson and Erick Luedtke; Middle: Wes Teleya, Sam Kananwisher, Breonna Roberts, Justin Nickel, Daniel Powell, Sharon Lubkeman. Back: Sherwood Glover, Jeff Johnson, Ross Merkel and Jeff Thiemann.

Southern California interns and supervisors clustered in October. They are: Front Row: Hans Koschmann, Amber Marten Second Row:John Commings, Robert Rognlien, Mark Kopka, Kristian Johnson Third Row: Scott Fritz, Andrew Kitzing, Dave Johnson, Terry Tuevey-Allen, Mark Johnson, Felicity Grover. Fourth Row: Scott Egbers, Brian Taylor, Jim Schoenrock, Carl Billings, Sherwood Glover Not pictured: Sabrina Vata, Dave Mattson, Dennis Laherty.

Southern California interns gathered earlier in the fall for a potluck picnic. Pictured: Front: Hans Koschmann, John Cummings, Dave Johnson, Amber Marten Back: Mark Johnson, Felicity Grover, Scott Egbers, Mark Kopka.

The CLI staff met at PLTS in November. Standing are: Sherwood Glover, Steve McKinley, Rick Foss, Donna Duensing, Rod Maeker, Kate Sterner. Seated: Julie Josund, Elba Selby, Alicia Vargas.