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Internship
Newsletter: April 2009
When the Floods Come
The Red River Valley is flooding. Before coming to St. Paul last
fall, I spent the previous 22 years in Fargo-Moorhead. Nancy and I
still have our house in Moorhead, and our daughter Susan is living
there. Unfortunately, it is in the "evacuation zone;" fortunately,
at this point there is only a bit of water in the basement. Like
many others, we are praying for the dikes to hold.
 Floods
come in many ways. Our lives can be overwhelmed. Our emotions can
flood. Our ministries (or internships) can bring more challenge than
the days can handle. Floods come in our lives, and the starkly
tangible flood in the Red River Valley can remind us how difficult
the flooding/overwhelming can be.
But there is another message in this flood. The response of the
people is even more powerful than the forces of the flooding. I'm
biased because I know so many of them, but the people up and down
the valley are demonstrating how to respond in an overwhelming
situation.
Leaders lead. Volunteers volunteer. Coordination and
communication is rampant. Help is graciously offered and received
with gratitude. The local community is supported by a host of others
from near and far.
There have been some losses. There will be more. That happens in
overwhelming situations. But not all will be lost. Much will be
saved. And lives, relationships, and communities will be rebuilt
stronger than ever.
We don't know how this particular flood will end, nor what the
damage will be. But we know that God's people will respond. Lutheran
Disaster Response is one of this church's finest ministries, and has
been working jointly with our two impacted synods, Eastern North
Dakota and Northwest Minnesota. Thank you. Intern Dean Grier will
serve as Luther Seminary's point person, coordinating with the
synods to see how we can best respond in the days and weeks ahead.
Thank you.
This flood will pass. Together we will clean up and go on. When
the floods come in your lives, they too will pass. May you live and
serve in community, where together you will clean up and go on.
God bless,
Rick Foss
Preparing for Final Evaluation 
Congratulations! You've made it to the end of internship! (Well,
almost...) As the last few weeks or months of internship approach,
all of you interns, supervisors, and lay committee members will turn
your attention to the final - and most important - evaluation.
Similar to the other evaluations, the final internship evaluation
is used to assess an intern's growth and development over the course
of the internship year; it follows the same format as the 6-month
form, with one additional section: the summary recommendation.
This extra section becomes a vital part of the student's approval
and assignment process. The summary paragraph contains valuable
information about the student's internship experience - including
unique gifts for the ministry and growth areas for the future
discovered on internship - that will be shared with the bishops when
students are assigned. The recommendations made in this section also
have the potential to affect a student's approval process.
The summary recommendation section is at the beginning of the
final evaluation but is best filled in after the remainder of the
evaluation is complete. It is divided into two parts: recommendation
to the seminary and summary paragraph.
The recommendation to the seminary has three ranks,
"unconditional," "conditional" and "not recommended." A
"conditional" or "not recommended" notation should include the
reasons for the ranking. Such a ranking typically should not come as
a surprise to the intern, but should be based on unresolved issues
or concerns raised in previous evaluations and discussed with the
intern. The student's seminary would follow up on either of these
ranks.
The summary paragraph section allows for 500 characters
(including spaces and punctuation) to describe/recommend the student
for ordained ministry. It should give a thumbnail sketch of the
student's gifts, strengths and growing edges.
While general glowing recommendations can be nice for the
student's confidence, they are not very useful for bishops or others
whose only knowledge about the candidate's internship may be what is
written in these brief statements. They're glad that you loved Vicar
Jane, but they need to know why. Give specific examples of what she
excelled at and loved to do, what she struggled with and needs to
work on, what types of ministry settings might best work for her
when she is ordained.
Space is limited, however, so brevity is required. Consider the
following examples as good models:
"We highly recommend Janet for pastoral
ministry. Her sermons are excellent, and her speaking style is
clear. She relates well with congregation members of all ages and
has good listening skills and the discipline necessary to
multi-task."
"John is a person of deep faith and clear
call. He has great skills in listening and being present with
people. His preaching has become more engaging and gospel centered.
He works well on a team. He needs more training and experience with
stewardship and evangelism."
"Internship provided me with a great deal of
opportunity to develop my pastoral presence through visitation,
weekly worship leadership, regular preaching, and teaching numerous
adult and confirmation classes. I found teaching to be a core
element of my sense of call which I plan to make a central part of
my future ministry."
If you're still struggling with what to write, try asking
yourself the following questions:
- What would you want a congregation to know about this person
if they were considering calling him as their pastor? What could
they expect from him?
- What would a bishop need to know about this person in order
to decide whether or not he has any congregations that might be
good matches for her first call? What distinguishes her from the
rest of the candidates out there? Would she prefer to work
and/or excel as a member of a pastoral team or as a solo pastor
(or could she adapt well to either setting)?
All three summary paragraphs - the student's, the supervisor's,
and the lay committee's - are put on the Form D, which becomes a
part of the student's package that is sent to ELCA bishops as part
of the assignment process. The Form D also contains summary
recommendations from the faculty at the student's seminary and
her/his candidacy committee, but only you can speak directly about
student's internship work.
Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork
 You've
got some paperwork due this month: your income taxes. Due April 15.
And you will get that paperwork done, whether you feel like it or
not. You have to. So you will buckle down and do it. Maybe you
already have. It will help you come to terms with where you have
been and are in your financial life. For many of you it will be good
news- refund! For others there will be a payment in your future. A
time of reckoning!
Now nobody has ever gone to jail for not completing the paperwork
associated with internship, but that does not mean you should not
complete it. It will help you come to terms with where you are in
your internship. For many of you it will be good news. For others
there is time "for amendment of life!"
We are still waiting for some mid-year evaluations. Nine month
evaluations are optional this year, but still have the possibility
of being helpful. We love to see project reports. You do have to get
all that paperwork done before your internship can be counted as
completed.
Of course, many people now do their income taxes on line, so it
isn't really paperwork. Needless to say, you can also do all of this
internship paperwork on line as well.
So do it, if you haven't. And if you have, thank you very much!
The Festival of the Intern
By Steve McKinley
If you take out your liturgical desk calendar and carefully
examine the page for April 19, 2009, you might just be able to make
out, in very fine print, the designation "The Festival of the
Intern." If you look back to December 28 or ahead to May 24 or July
5, you might find the same words. Perhaps you will even in italic
print the alternative: "The Festival of the Associate Pastor."
These dates were established in the ancient church, probably
around the time of the Council at Nicaea, whereat, on an otherwise
slow day, the Church Fathers decided that interns (or associate
pastors) should always preach on the Second Sunday of Easter (or, as
they called it back then, the Sunday after Easter), the Sunday after
Christmas, Memorial Day weekend and July 4th weekend. Some of the
Church Fathers thought Labor Day weekend should be included as well,
but they were mostly people whose interns started at weird times.
Thus it stands today, and interns across the length and breadth of
this fair country are brushing up on John 20:19-31.
Interns, I want to assure you that this is not a bad deal at all.
April 19 is a better day than April 12 to be preaching this year for
two reasons. (Probably more than two, but two is all I can think of
this afternoon.)
- There are fewer distractions, so people are more likely to
pay attention to the sermon. The church will not be as crowded.
The music department will not be trying to shoehorn in four
pieces of special music. Fewer non-regulars will be present, so
most of the people who are there will know where they are
supposed to sit and what they are supposed to do. You won't have
to thread your way between the lilies and other flowers. Fewer
children and adults will be amped up on Easter candy. Nobody
will be visually scanning the congregation just to check on who
is there and what they are wearing. A much better atmosphere for
preaching.
- John 20:19-31 is a better preaching text than either John
20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8, the two gospel texts appointed for
Easter Sunday. Doubting Thomas, for gosh sakes. Put your hands
here, there. Jesus did many other signs, but these are written,
etc. This is good stuff! You can really get into this text and
wrestle with doubt and proof and the purpose of Jesus' ministry
and all those wonderful topics. Whereas, if you really have to
preach on Easter Sunday, you will discover something that
veteran preachers learned a long time ago, that preaching on
Easter (like preaching on Christmas) is about like explaining a
joke. Either you get it or you don't, and if you don't get it,
an explanation is unlikely to leave you rolling on the floor. My
old pal Ozzie Hollman, one-time rector of Grace Episcopal Church
in Windsor, CT, and a man of poise, presence and wisdom, once
mounted the pulpit on Easter Sunday and said simply "Christ is
risen. He is risen indeed." And sat back down again. He called
it his finest Easter sermon. Intern supervisors and senior
pastors preach on Easter not because it is a great day for a
carefully crafted sermon, no matter how hard they try to craft
it, but because intern supervisors and senior pastors preach on
Easter, period.
So do your preaching and enjoy your advantages and give it your
best shot.
I wish I had something good to say about May 24.
The CLI staff met in St. Paul March 24-26 to make internship
assignments for the 2009-10 academic year. Assignments will be
announced to interns and congregations in early April.
At that meeting the staff said good-bye to the Rev. Sherwood
Glover, who has served as Deployed Associate for Region II for the
last three years. Sherwood is retiring at the end of May. He is
featured in the April issue of Embody Health, a health newsletter
published by the Mayo Clinic for participants in the ELCA health
plan.
Spring Cluster Meetings
- Arizona-Nevada: April 13-14, Spirit in the Desert
Retreat Center, Carefree, Ariz. (Sherwood Glover).
- Northern California: April 20-21, San Damiano Retreat
Center, Danville, Calif. (Sherwood Glover)
- Twin Cities North & East: April 28, Our Saviour's
Lutheran Church,
Stillwater, Minn., 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Steve McKinley)
- Southern California: May 4-5, Mary and Joseph Retreat
Center, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. (Sherwood Glover)
- Southern Minnesota-South Dakota: May 5, Gustavus
Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (Steve McKinley)
- Oregon/Vancouver, WA: May 7, Holy Cross Lutheran Church,
Salem, Ore., 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Julie Josund)
- Twin Cities Central: May 7, Trinity Lutheran Congregation,
Minneapolis, Minn., 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Steve McKinley)
- Colorado: May 12, Rocky Mountain Synod Office, Denver,
Colo., 9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Julie Josund)
- Twin Cities South & West: May 12, Woodlake Lutheran
Church, Richfield,
Minn., 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Steve McKinley)
- Northern Minnesota/North Dakota: May 14, Concordia
Lutheran Church, Fertile, Minn., 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Rick Foss)
- Washington: June 2, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Wash.,
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (Julie Josund)
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