Posted on 2/1/2012 by Wayne Smith in the Learnings Blog
Leadership Network is always asking the question, "What's trying to happen?", or what is God birthing that is popping up in various forms around the landscape of the church?
As every generation of leadership matures and begins to see the possible end of its season of influence, one question always seems to surface:
"How do we raise up the next generation of Church/Kingdom leadership?"
Are you asking this question? No doubt there are many ways of intentionally raising up the next generation of leadership, but one which continues to have some traction as a subset of Leadership Development is Internship Programs.
Many churches have some kind of Internship Program and there are multiple models of how to develop interns. Here are just a few that we have identified:
- Two year ministry internships focused on developing leaders by offering training curriculum, ministry responsibility, access to real leaders, ongoing coaching and even some help landing a ministry role after completion of the program.
- Educational Partnerships between a church and Bible Colleges or Seminary for both formal theological training as well as hands-on real world ministry training in the context of a healthy local church.
- One year fellowships focused on how to live out one's faith and lead spiritually in six different domains, Medicine, Law, Corporate Leadership, Education, Entreprenuership, Arts and Entertainment, under the leadership of a local church and seasoned practioners in each domain.
Each of these models and the churches that practice them have something wonderful to teach about raising up the next generation of Church/Kingdom leadership, as well as areas of potential growth. As we say, "No model is perfect, some are useful!" And there are more varieties on these models and more unique models of Internship programs that are being practiced in so many different churches.
Wouldn't it be great if some of those practitioners were gathered together to learn from one another, encourage one another, challenge one another, and even help shape the future of Internship programs all across the church landscape? We think so too.
So, LN is launching an InnovationLab for churches with established Internship Programs for those very purposes!
LN's InnovationLab goes way beyond typical brainstorming, in fact, a participating team will be stretched to think beyond the boundaries of current reality to answer the question, 'what's around the corner?' This Lab is specifically for churches that have an established Intern Program and are looking for collaboration and networking with other programs to increase effectiveness and stay on the cutting edge.
What about you and your team? Does your collective heart beat faster about raising up the next generation of leadership? Do you have an established Internship Program? What are the questions that you would like to wrestle with about your program? Are you asking "what model is best for us?" Or "How could we tweak our existing model to become more effective?" If so, then perhaps this InnovationLab is for you and your team.
Here is some of the pertinent information
Dates are:
Launch Date - May 16-17, 2012
Online Meeting - November 12, 2012
Final Meeting - May 8-9, 2013
For additional information on this InnovationLab, contact wayne.smith@leadnet.org or julia.burk@leadnet.org.
To complete application for consideration, click here.
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