I first wrote this post 5 years ago for a leadership training event. I have reedited some sections but wanted to leave the bulk of the post as it was

Every leader wants more – they want more finance, more people, more rooms, more time etc. Leaders are wired for more and as leaders of leaders our job is to open the doors that allow that to happen. We constantly want our leaders to be able to walk into the more that God is opening up. The challenge is that it isn’t always possible to find the resources to create another room or add another employee. What many churches and organisation have turned to one he personnel challenge is to institute a form of intern programme, gap year or whatever terminology we desire to use. 

I personally have been in full time ministry now for 16 years and have worked with interns for 15 of those years. Like most of us I have had many incredible interns, some more challenging interns and everything in between. I’ve had moments of disappointment where interns I thought would change the world just seem to change my mood and I have had moments where those I wasn’t so sure about do incredible things and blow me away. 

As I have watched interns come in and out and work with me and other staff i believe that there is one question, which if answered correctly in the beginning, will help us see more success with our year out interns.

Why do I want interns to serve alongside me?

It seems like a simple enough question to ask, and you will most likely think that we have already answered that in the opening to this post, but the why behind our desire to see interns gather in our churches will have a huge bearing on how we lead them and how they develop while with us. 

Here are three ‘whys’

• I need someone to pick up my admin
• I don’t have enough time to fit this all in
• I need more people to serve the vision

This isn’t an exhaustive list but these are statements I hear often from people who are looking to establish internship programmes within their church. The truth of the matter is very very few interns are giving up a year of their life so that they can do admin. Even the interns who come to admin don’t seem to want to give up a year of their life to do admin. You may find some, but it generally is a function you are more likely to find in a 8 hour volunteer than an intern. Also interns, especially in the beginning, require a lot of your time, and rightly so. I will explain that more in a minute but suffice to say that in the beginning they probably won’t function as a time saver for you so I wouldn’t use that as a reason to push into this stuff. And finally, very few interns have the desire to serve the vision of your church as the top priority when they signed up for the year out programme. As shocking as that is to those of us who love to lead vision but it’s true. They will want to and some local interns may choose to take the year because of that but even then it’s unlikely to be top of their list.

So why do they sign up?

Top of their list tends to be that they want something to be established in their lives next year that isn’t there this year. They come because they want to grow their relationship with Jesus and sustain it beyond the year. That will never shift in them and that’s great, however as the year continues you will begin to see them increasingly make room for the vision that is growing within them for what is happening within your context.

So, what questions/statements should we be asking/pondering to establish whether we should invite interns to serve alongside us?

1. Who could I raise to go beyond me?

As much as interns love to tease me I am not an old man, although this is changing with each year!! I feel I have a lot to give; I don’t feel I have reached my potential yet. I have a lot of growing to do and I don’t think I’ve bumped my head yet. Regardless of what age you are here you likely feel the same. This is brilliant but it’s also dangerous.

When you still think you can grow and conquer the world you often forgot to help supply the destiny of others to do the same. I can say now that nothing gives me more joy than someone getting for free what I have worked to grasp. It’s been given to me by leaders and it’s my job to do the same. My parents are wonderfully generous and often they will give me money to pay for something that my wife and I couldn’t afford on our own. When I try and push back they often say; “There’s no point us keeping all this for another 20 years when you can use it now while you are young.” It’s the same with leadership. There is no point me waiting until I’m in my 70’s before I pass anything on because by then the next generation would be in their 50’s………….you get the point.

2. I haven’t got all the gifts to do this

The truth is I have been in over my head for years; if we were being honest many of us would say the same thing. I don’t have everything that it takes, I don’t have all the gifts, all the expertise and all the knowledge to do all that God has called me into. I need other people who do it better. Whilst interns that are working with us might not be there yet our job is to train them to go way beyond what we can. I have two young interns working with me – they are 20 and 21 but what they are learning and able to do at the long age is a good 10 years ahead of where I was at back then. I am excited to see what God does with them in the future.

3. There is more available in this community

If God isn’t finished with this community and the future is to be filled with expansion then it is vital that I learn to multiply and train people to fill this city and other cities. We need people who carry the identity of the Father, the authority of the spirit and the clarity of mission that comes from these two things at work in their lives. If there is more available we need to make more available and one of the best way to do this is to multiply Jesus followers who will do whatever it takes to reach and raise up this generation and the generations beyond for the sake of the Kingdom.