Pastoral Internship > Pity the Poor Intern!

Just a final note here about interns.

You have arrived at your position as a Ministerial Director after many years of productive and successful ministry. You know the ropes. You know and work regularly with conference administrators and officials from your union and division. You know how things work and how the church is organized and how it functions.

Please don't assume that your new pastors are like you! With the number of first-generation Adventists becoming pastors (and even with 2nd and 3rd gen pastors), you'll soon discover that they know virtually nothing about how the SDA church works. That can leave them feeling (and being) vulnerable and powerless.

And since they likely haven't yet developed acquaintances and friendships with leadership, they might be feeling very insecure about their place in the Adventist church world. They don't even know what they don't know!

This means you can expect some off-the-wall questions and comments as they navigate their way into this work.

As you on-board an intern, take the time to talk through how things work with them. Let them know about whom to contact for various things. Give them words of caution and warning about important things to be aware of and important relationships to nurture. By doing this, you will likely help keep them from making some rookie mistakes, some of which can be quite embarrassing for them!