In December the first two people trained under the internship training model will graduate from the Knox Centre of Ministry and Leadership.
Brendan O’Hagan and Anne Stewart have completed the two-year training programme, with both about to take up parish ministry positions. Distance student Jenny Doyle will also graduate and intern Junghun Choi is near graduation.
The internship model means that students spent 70 percent of their time working and learning in a parish placement and 30 percent completing assignments and attending intensive courses at the Knox Centre in Dunedin. It replaced a residential system, where trainee ministers spent two years together in Dunedin.
Interns are placed into one parish for the two years, and have a mentoring minister. They also have a supervisor and a support team, as well regular communication with Knox Centre staff.
Graduating intern Anne Stewart has been placed at St Stephen’s in Christchurch, where her husband Martin is minister.
She says she found the programme more attractive that the previous model, because she did not have to move to Dunedin and because of the increased practical component.
Anne took some role in worship every week, preaching about once a month. She also ran a foot clinic, organised volunteers and was heavily involved in pastoral visiting.
Anne will stay at St Stephen’s, taking up a half-time position in December when her internship concludes.
While some people feared a loss of collegiality under the internship model, Anne says this has not been the reality, with strong collegiality developed in the presbytery as well as intense interaction during interns’ block courses in Dunedin.
Nyalle Paris is about to complete the first year of his internship at St Andrew’s Invercargill.
He says the academic part of the course is challenging and relevant to parish life. “I come back from a block course and have things to put into practice.”
Keeping the balance between parish and course work can be difficult, he says, but is helped by the clear initial understanding developed with the session, facilitated by Knox Centre Principal the Right Rev Dr Graham Redding.
The Rev Phil King of St Margaret’s Bishopdale in Christchurch was mentoring minister to graduating intern Brendan O’Hagan. He says hosting an intern has been a very positive experience for his church.
Phil says it took a while to establish how things would work, with this first intake of interns being “guinea pigs”.
Brendan has experienced the full range of parish ministry, from preaching a couple of times a month to worship-leading, children’s ministry and pastoral care. He’s run a successful series of social events, including dinners and a mid-winter evening, that strengthened connections within the parish.
The church very much “owned” having an intern, Phil says, and people feel proud of Brendan as he moves into his own charge at Wairau Presbyterian Parish in Blenheim.
Some members of the congregation are considering how they can work to maintain the social events he introduced.
Graham says 12 students are due to start the first year of the internship programme next year, with another six students in their final year in 2010.
He says the large intake reflects a definite increase in interest in ministry as a career. “Internship is seen as a more flexible training option. It minimises disruption to students and their families, especially if their spouse is working.”
The average age of ministry students has dropped from early to mid 40s, with many now in their late 20s or early 30s, and the theological, gender and cultural diversity has increased. Graham says Knox Centre staff are deliberating shoulder-tapping potential ministers, attending events such as youth conference Connect and creating opportunities through initiatives like the music scholarships, which see six young people visit the Centre for
a workshop.
With 12 new interns to place next year, it has been a challenge finding host churches, Graham says. “The biggest struggle is in Auckland,” with Wellington also difficult.
Parishes need to pay interns 80 percent of stipend, though significant support is available from PSDS and the Synod of Otago and Southland. Graham says his aim is to bring the cost to parishes down to under $15,000 (or $10,000 in the Synod of Otago and Southland area).
The success of an internship depends on careful initial negotiation of expectations and responsibilities, Graham says, with the intern there to learn about every facet of ministry rather than just filling a gap in the church leadership team.
Graham says that because so many people are involved in an intern’s training, strong lines of communication are vital. “We’ve got to constantly work at that.”
Refinements made during the past two years include a reduction in assessment, after interns found combining assignments and parish work, without any holidays as under the old system, created too much pressure.
Graham says there is also “huge pressure and expectation” placed on the teaching programme by the Church. “People expect graduates to be the agents of change and renewal who can grow the Church,” without compromising any of the fundamentals of parish ministry.
“There are huge expectations on parish ministers to reverse the decline of the church. “Often ministers can be the scapegoats, and we have to equip people for that.”
By Amanda Wells