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Internship Newsletter: March 2008

For the Lay Committee:
Your Feedback, Your Process
by Kate Sterner

We know Lay Committee members truly care about the church and the raising up of new pastors. You are intimately involved in this important ministry, so when you offer feedback, we want to listen. A handful of committees have recently sent in their comments about how the mid-year and final evaluation forms might be improved. Are there anymore ideas out there? Let us know! We plan to share these comments and suggestions at an upcoming ELCA seminary field educators summit on March 7.

A little background: The evaluation form is used by all eight ELCA seminaries, and represents the collaborative design efforts of staff from these schools. The form has had several adaptations and upgrades since its creation. The form we use today admittedly incorporates differing points of view about what the evaluation should ask and how the questions should be structured. The CLI will continue to use the same forms and questions as all the other seminaries. The only difference is that the CLI's forms are online, designed to facilitate the collection and storage of data which can be administered electronically.

Some of the suggestions we have received:

• Make a 5-point rating scale, rather than a 3-point scale (currently: Not Yet Competent, Competent, Exceptional)
• Make it a 7 point scale
• Eliminate the rating scale completely, and rely upon the descriptions provided in the comment boxes
• Include a button that indicates "N/A" or "Not observed," because Lay committees may not yet (at mid-year) have had an opportunity to observe the intern in a particular area
• Add a question that evaluates the intern's writing abilities
• Add a question that invites observations of the intern's spouse/family

Who sees the evaluation forms?

The mid-year evaluation form is considered a confidential document, and is usually only seen by the CLI staff; more particularly, by the student's internship contact person. Some candidacy committees do request to see the mid-year evaluation, but this is not common. Usually candidacy committees only see the 3-month, 9-month and final evaluations, which are sent to them by the intern. The student's faculty advisor may also be given access to view these evaluation forms.

The evaluation forms in their entirety are not sent to bishops or synod assignment meetings. The only pieces of the evaluation forms that go to the bishops are the summary paragraphs of the final evaluations.

Submit Your Feedback

If you have a comment about the evaluation form used by Lay Committees, please submit your feedback by March 6 to ksterner@luthersem.edu. Your comments will be offered anonymously to the upcoming meeting of ELCA field education directors on March 7 for their consideration.

Thank you for being a part of your congregation's Lay Committee. We want you to know that we believe your work to be invaluable and a significant contribution to the preparation of future pastors.

On Keeping it Simple   
By Steve McKinley

One of my great friends and mentors when I was a young pastor was the Rev. Elward (yes, Elward) O. "Ozzie" Hollman, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Windsor, Conn. Ozzie respected the high church liturgical tradition of the Episcopal Church, but led the liturgy in a very down-to-earth way, which was Ozzie’s style in all things. He had a great gift for keeping things simple and cutting through to the core.

Ozzie was famous at Grace for one of his Easter sermons. He stood up in the pulpit and said "Christ is risen, he is risen indeed." And sat back down again. End of sermon. He always thought of it as his best Easter sermon.

Easter comes, Christmas comes, and preachers knock themselves out to produce masterful sermons that will move the masses and bring many to faith. There will be so many people in church that day, after all. The famous Christmas and Easter Christians. Family from out of town. Maybe even a few seekers who have come out of curiosity, the doors of their spirits slightly ajar for an hour. Preachers think it is up to them to deliver the goods and win souls like Peter did on Pentecost. I do not say that in a judgmental way. I spent many, many years doing that very thing.

But the more years I preached, the simpler my sermons got, especially on occasions like Easter and Christmas. Preaching on Easter started to seem like explaining a joke. Either you get it or you don't, and if you don't all of the explaining in the world isn't going to leave you rolling on the floor and holding your sides. We might dress it up a bit, but on Easter there really isn’t much more that needs saying than "Christ is risen, he is risen indeed." That pretty well wraps it up.

So as you work on your "big sermons" this month, take the Easter Gospel very seriously ... but don't take yourself too seriously. The Holy Spirit is the real communicator in this deal, not you. Try not to get in the way. And remember to tell them that "Christ is risen, he is risen indeed."

Pure Grace   
By Tryphine Schruba

CLI Intern Tryphine Schruba sent in this contribution about the wonderful support she has received from her internship site. Do you have a story to share? Send it to Ministry in Context editor Steve McKinley at smckinley001@luthersem.edu.

Pure grace. The grace of God working through others. I have been the recipient of grace while on internship at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Iola, Wis., a small rural town in the middle of the state.

On December 8 there was a fire in the 100 unit apartment building in Green Bay, Wis., where my older daughter Emily lives. Her apartment did not burn, but was unlivable due to smoke and water damage. She did not lose everything, but did lose a much of her furniture and other belongings.

Members of the Our Savior's were generous in their monetary gifts in the weeks after the fire to help her get back on her feet. Each month the loose change in the offering plate is designated for a specific local cause, and in January the collection was for Emily. In addition, on February 3rd they threw her a fire shower. She received some larger items to replace ones that were lost, and some fun items like a basket with cocoa mix and a mug.

I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of these people who had never even met my daughter until the day of the shower. These wonderful people who saw a need and were moved to help. These gracious people who saw their intern’s family in need and cared enough about her to share what God had given to them.

I am humbled and grateful to the people of Our Savior's for caring about me. I praise God for the people of Our Savior's who are living their faith. Thanks be to God.

Spring Cluster Meetings   

• Northern TC Metro Cluster - April 3, 2:00 - 8:00 pm with option of overnight at Episcopal House of Prayer, Collegeville, Minn. (Laure Schwartz)
• Wisconsin Cluster - April 8, 10 a.m. to April 9, 12 noon at St. Bede Retreat Center, Eau Claire, Wis. (Gary Wilkerson)
• East TC Metro Cluster - April 10, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm at Carondelet Center, St. Paul, Minn. (Laure Schwartz)
• Oregon-SW Washington Cluster - April 24-25 - Menucha Retreat Center, Corbett, Ore. (Julie Josund)
• Southern California Cluster - April 29-30 - Mary and Joseph Retreat Center, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. (Sherwood Glover)
• Washington Cluster - April 29-30 at Palisades Retreat Center, Federal Way, Wash. (Julie Josund)
• Southern Minnesota-SE South Dakota Cluster - May 1 - Shalom Hill Farm, Windom, Minn. (Steve McKinley)
• Northern California Cluster - May 6-7 - San Damiano Retreat Center, Danville, Calif. (Sherwood Glover)
• South & West Metro Cluster - May 8 - Christ Church Lutheran, Minneapolis, Minn. (Steve McKinley)
• Denver Cluster - May 13 - Our Savior’s Lutheran, Greeley, Colo. (Sherwood Glover)
• Arizona Cluster - June 3 - Community Lutheran, Las Vegas, Nev. (Sherwood Glover)

Don't Be Late for Church!   

Daylight Savings Time begins the second Sunday in March, March 9, the 5th Sunday in Lent. If you are one of our perfectionist interns, you will set your alarm clock for 2 a.m. when you go to bed on Saturday night, then wake up and move the hands one hour ahead. If you are a normal productive intern, you will set the clock ahead before you go to bed on Saturday night. If you are one of those I-do-my-best-work-at-the-last-minute (meaning I-only-work-at-the-last-minute) types, you might still be working on Sunday’s sermon and can simply take a break from your Greek New Testament and set the clock ahead. But do make sure to do it or the saints arriving for the 8:30 a.m. service will be wondering where you are, and that never looks good on an evaluation.