{"id":8396,"date":"2014-09-22T16:38:42","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T23:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=8396"},"modified":"2014-09-22T16:38:42","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T23:38:42","slug":"greater-northwest-ministry-interns-begin-nine-months-of-service-discernment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/greater-northwest-ministry-interns-begin-nine-months-of-service-discernment\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Northwest Ministry Interns begin nine months of service, discernment"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Patrick Scriven\u00a0| Director of Communications &\u00a0Young People\u2019s Ministries<\/h3>\n

[dropcap type=”1″]O[\/dropcap]ne of the most significant things we can do as church is help people to understand their calling, that interesting and unique intersection between their God-given gifts and the needs of a broken world. When people find this niche, their passion is kindled and their interest and investment of time is affirmed by a fruitfulness relevant to the particular calling.<\/p>\n

A couple weeks back, the Lewis Center released their latest report on clergy age trends. You can read that report here<\/a>. It again affirmed the need for the church to address the painful reality that very few young people are choosing ordained ministry.<\/p>\n

[pull_quote_right]I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to explore and discern the call to ministry alongside such a welcoming and dedicated community of people that shares a deep desire to develop and live out the mission of Christ’s church in the world.\u00a0–\u00a0Amanda Nicol[\/pull_quote_right]Of course, these aren\u2019t unrelated threads but they are ones that are sometimes mis-woven into each other. Calling is often misunderstood as something solely for the select few who would become pastors or spiritual directors of some sort, rather than something each and every Christian must work out with, as they say, fear and trembling.<\/p>\n

In 2012, the United Methodist General Conference moved to create a $7 million Young Clergy Initiative<\/a> fund \u201cdesigned to \u201cincrease the number of young clergy among the jurisdictional conferences.\u201d The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) was asked to administrate it and set up a granting process. Our Greater Northwest Episcopal Area was successful, thanks to the efforts of PNW Associate David Reinholz, and key staff of the OR-ID<\/a> and PNW<\/a> Annual Conferences, in securing a $100,000 grant to launch internships in our area. You can read more about that here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Reinholz, \u201cThe Ministry Internship Project is one piece of a more comprehensive effort to create a \u201cculture of call\u201d in the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area<\/a>. Local churches, districts, and the conferences must make it our business to identify, recruit, and affirm the call of the next generation of visionary lay and clergy leaders for the church.\u00a0Leadership development is the linchpin for the revitalization of The United Methodist Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our\u00a0first cohort of interns<\/h4>\n

In response to the area-wide invitation to participate, several young adults and a number of churches applied to be a part of our initial round of pastoral internships. Chosen interns would have the opportunity to experience first-hand ministry in the church and in the world. After interviews, conversations, and prayerful deliberation, the following matches were made for internships that started September 15th and will conclude on, or around, June 15th, 2015:<\/p>\n