Welcoming an Intern Pastor

In August of this year, we will be welcoming Lisa Janke as an Intern Pastor.  She will be serving half time at St. Luke’s Zion and half time with the MNO Synod.  Those of you who have made donations to the “MNO Internship” have been contributing to the fund that will support this internship as well as future ones.  What this means is that we get to experience having an intern without all of the associated costs.

For those of you who have never experienced having an intern before, the primary purpose of the internship is to allow the intern to continue to learn.  In this case, Lisa has already completed all of her courses at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  Her internship will be the final piece in her theological education.

For her, it is an opportunity to try out some of the things that she has learned in a real, live congregation J.   She will preach every so often.  She will assist in leading worship whenever she is here.  She will experience as many things as possible that are part of pastoral ministry.

For her, it is not only an opportunity to put some of her learning into practice, but also a chance to continue to discern God’s call to her.  Is God calling her to be a pastor, or to use her theological education in some other type of work?  These are not always easy questions to answer!

Internship is a time to try out new things, even if they fail.  It is a time to try on the pastoral role and see if it fits or not.  It is a time to take theoretical things from the classroom and see what actually works in real life.

When Lisa begins, she will develop her learning goals for the year in consultation with both myself and Pastor Tyler Gingrich, who will be her other supervisor.  A group of lay people will also work with her throughout the year, giving feedback and helping her to achieve these goals.

Both you and I are being invited to come alongside her and walk with her through this part of her journey.  We are being asked to be actively involved in helping her to learn what it means to be a pastor.  We are being asked to support her in whatever ways we can, whether that means inviting her over for dinner, giving her a gift card every so often, or passing along a care package whenever we can.

“The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).

God continues to give these gifts, in spite of the fact that it is not always easy to do what God has called us to do.  To serve as a pastor is a great privilege, but is also at times a great burden.  However, it is also true that where God guides, God provides.  That is true for pastors, for interns, and for all those who are engaged in the work of ministry.

Thank you for your partnership in ministry in the body of Christ and in the world that God loves.  Thank you for sharing your gifts and for continuing to live as God’s saints!

                        In Christ,

                        Pastor Lynne Hutchison