By Warren Bird
A recent national study, perhaps the largest ever, has looked under the hood of more than 300 churches and summarized the findings in a just-released richly illustrated report, “Leaders in Training: Internships and Residencies Help Churches Shape Future Leaders,” brought to you by Southeastern University.
Key findings include:
- 1. Leaders want to see other leaders developed.
- Leaders help rising leaders mature.
- The number of intern/resident programs has increased rapidly in recent years.
- Most churches offer multiple programs and multiple specialties.
- The best interns/residents come from within the congregation itself.
- Upon completing the program, over a third become church staff.
- Almost half the participants receive academic credit.
- Churches show a high degree of confidence about the success of their program.
- The primary term is “intern” followed by “resident.”
- Paying for the program is a study in extremes.
- Early Fall and beginning of Summer are the most popular times to begin.
- The biggest audience for these programs is recent graduates.
- Program size grows with size of church.
To download this free graphic-rich report, go to www.leadnet.org/intern.
Other recently released Leadership Network reports, all authored or co-authored by Warren Bird, include:
Succession Readiness: Surveying the Landscape of Large Church Pastors, brought by Vanderbloemen Search Group
Campus Pastors as Key to Multisite Success, brought by Portable Church
Recent Shifts in America’s Largest Protestant Churches: Megachurches 2015 Report, brought by The Beck Group
Large Canadian Churches Draw an Estimated 300,000 Worshippers Each Week: Findings from a National Study, brought by DL Deeks Insurance and Pushpay
Coming soon: The Inside Story from Large Church HR Directors
