Internships – A Tool for Cultivating Leadership Potential

I hear it all the time. As Christ’s Church of the Valley’s Executive Pastor I receive e-mails all the time from church leaders around the country. “I’m looking to release a new Employee Manual; do you have anything I can use?” “We’re revising our By-Laws; can I get a copy of yours to read for input?” “We’re about to begin a capital campaign, what consultant do you recommend?” By far, though, the question I hear most is from a Pastor who has a key leadership position to fill. Good people are hard to find and lack of leadership people can and will hamper a church’s ability to grow!

Over the first 7 years of our existence here at Christ’s Church of the Valley, “staffing” has been the biggest challenge in fueling a more than 35% annual growth rate. There is a continuous, ever-increasing need for people to lead stuff! But, as I sit here at our weekly “staff lunch” I am in awe over what God has accomplished! We have sixteen staff members and all of them, except for one, came from within the church.

How did this happen? From the very beginning it has been all about identifying and “raising up” leaders. And, in a new church focused on reaching the lost you often are developing leaders and leading them to Christ all at the same time. Or, is it leading people to Christ and developing leaders at the same time? Regardless, fueling the growth of the church requires us, as church leaders, to get very good at identifying potential leaders, getting them across the line of faith, and plugging them into significant areas of ministry. We believe that God provides people with the necessary gifts and our job –as leaders– is to identify and cultivate those gifts.

By far, the key around here has been the recognition and cultivation of an individual’s desire to serve through establishing progressively more “formal” employment relationships – internships. The difference between a “volunteer leader” and an “intern” is in how they are treated and the level of responsibility they are given. For example, over the past year most of our pastoral care needs have been met by an “unpaid intern.” This individual is currently going to school for his ministry degree and doesn’t have a need for a salary. He’s not paid, so how is he different than any other volunteer? It’s a matter of how his role is recognized by the church and how his role is viewed by the staff and congregation. He is treated more like a staff member and less like a volunteer. He has a Moviechurch.com e-mail address, a phone, and access to everything –budget, database, as well as other tools and resources– a paid staff person does. The church has a need and God has provided a person with the gifts. All that was needed was a staff leader willing to cultivate those gifts.

There is a “formal relationship” established and a number of requirements are met by the individual. They go through a pretty extensive assessment process including a formal application, an extensive questionnaire, a criminal background screening (depending on the area of ministry), reference checks, interviews, and other forms of assessment.

When a salary is needed or an increase in the level of accountability to the church is needed, a “paid” internship might be the best solution. You would be surprised how far a relatively low hourly rate of pay will go in terms of commitment to the job and the resultant increase in contribution. Paid interns are required to maintain “regular” hours and are asked to participate in all staff activities. A paid intern will also be mentored by their ministry leader and most often have some access to the Senior Pastor. They are almost always given a formal title and their role on staff is communicated to the congregation.

Recently a 2 year paid internship concluded with our hiring of that person as a full-time Student Arts Leader. This person will be graduating this month and will be joining the staff in a full-time capacity in June. Over the 2 year paid internship period he has regularly led in the Arts and Student Ministry areas. He also routinely leads worship during adult services. It’s very possible that at some future point he may become one of our adult worship leaders. Progression from paid intern to full-time staff member in 2 years is a great example of the success of the process.

Here at Christ’s Church of the Valley the necessity to continuously fill an increasing number of leadership needs has resulted in the development of a 6 step process: 1) Leadership Evangelism; 2) Volunteer Leader; 3) Unpaid Intern; 4) Paid Intern; 5) Part-Time Staff; 6) Full-Time Staff.

Every ministry leader is expected to “leadership evangelize,” continuously identify potential leaders, plugging them into significant leadership roles. The process begins with identifying individuals who look, talk, and act like leaders. This is done in a number of ways ranging from an introduction in the lobby on Sunday morning to a more “scientific” method of generating lists of people from the church database categorized in any number of ways. Once a person has been identified, beginning to meet with them to discover their leadership potential is the next step in the process. This is most often done with a specific leadership position or list of needed leadership positions in mind. Over the course of a couple of meetings the ministry leader works on discovering the potential leader’s personality, passion, and if they’ve been baptized, spiritual gifts. Of course if they have not yet crossed the line of faith, working with them on taking that step becomes the focus.

Depending on the need and the leader’s gifting they can be plugged in at almost any step in the process. Most everyone, though, begins at the beginning as a volunteer leader. This was certainly the case with me. Long before I was asked to join the staff, I served as a volunteer leader in the Arts area. Brian Jones, our Senior Pastor, began meeting with me over breakfast shortly after that. I was a Vice President in a corporate role and –to Brian at least– must have looked, acted, and talked like a leader. Little did I know at the time that I was being “leadership evangelized!” The next thing I knew I was taking time off work to lead the the church staff through a strategic planning session or work with Brian on financial planning for the church. I had made the transition from volunteer leader to unpaid intern. It wasn’t until he asked me to lead the church’s building program way back in late 2002 that I felt God calling me to be the church’s Executive Pastor. I still remember what I said to Brian one of the first few times he talked about the church’s future need for a “business guy.” I said, “That will be a good job for someone someday. Good luck with that!”

So, the key is to identify leadership potential; discover personality, passion, and gifts; and recognize that potential through establishing a formal employment relationship through an internship program. If you have a leadership challenge you are trying to meet, don’t underestimate the power of “fifty bucks.” Hire an intern, pay them $50 a week, give them an office; computer; and cell phone, and watch them develop into a “staff member.” Don’t underestimate how the power of giving someone “a seat at the leadership table” will call for premier levels of effort for the kingdom!

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