Ministry Practicum Experience Paper

After a car accident three years ago, God used the recovery period to hone my old skills and birth new. Over the course of the process, He repositioned me for a different journey. The new path led to a transition from a secular K-12 setting to Christian higher education; yet, still within the context of supporting a diverse student population. My purpose became preparing and teaching ministerial leadership in a

When people sign up for the ministry; or better stated, when people are called into the ministry, they often assume that most of their time will be spent studying the bible, conversing with lost souls about the good news of Jesus and seeking God in prayer. However, successful ministers and ministries are the result of effectively executed administrative duties. According to Robert Welch and his book Church Administration, a study of pastors revealed, “about 57 percent of their ministry was tied up in strictly nonpastoral administrative duties.”1 What is more, many ministers admitted, “counseling, visitation, family time, prayer and personal devotions suffer in too many cases.”2 Is this simply a case of misguided expectations, poor leadership

This philosopy of ministry is simply my personal way of doing things . In my view, every christian should believe the same primary, fundamental doctrines, however, not all churches and ministries should have the same style, or the same philosophy of ministry. Just as there is variety in the body, so the world needs all different styles of pastors, leaders and teachers. No one style will reach everybody with the gospel of Jesus. As you read the Bible you'll see that while God does tell a church what to believe and think, he never tells the church exactly how to operate. The church is free to creatively operate within biblical teachings and principles.

Earley & Gutierrez (2010) “Ministry Is…How to Serve Jesus with Passion and Confidence” (Nashville: Broadman & Holman).

For this paper, I choose to interview Jean Proll, Elijah Purnell, Alex Synder, Zach Perry, and Cynthia Bring. Jean Proll has been working with children ministries in her church for many years. I thought that she would be a good choice because she grew up in a completely different American culture than I had, so I thought she would have some good advice on how to deal with things changing, and different types or kids. I then decided to interview Elijah Purnell, because he lives in New Zealand and I thought it would be interesting to see how they lead the ministries and work in groups. I also thought it would be a good idea because I don’t know who God will bring into my path or where he will take me, so I would have some insight into another country’s culture when it comes to leadership in groups. Alex Synder has started a lot of groups around the community to help many people and she has also helped her brothers find Christ. She also has helped out the Christian students in our high school and help them start a before school Bible Study. Zach Perry was one of my choices because he led many small groups in his church and he helps many people get back on track with God. Cynthia Bing has been a devoted Christian from a very young age. She has started a women’s ministry at her church to bring the women of the church together.

It appears the Holy Spirit has graciously lead me into your midst for my required internship this academic year. As a student at United Theological Seminary for a second masters in Religious Leadership, I am writing to you today to tell you a little bit about myself.

I would like to be considered for admission to this Colorado Christian University because I believe that it will be a perfect fit for me. I will have the opportunity to receive a degree and strengthen myself in the Word of God. For many years, I have been interested in studying Psychology. My interest in pursuing this field stems from many factors, but the number one reason will be my love for people. I consider myself to be big hearted and a compassionate person. God has blessed me with a caring spirit. I have love for people and I desire to be a helping hand to as many people I can reach. For many years I have found myself working with foster children or taking care of those who needed caregiver assistance and I want to go further. I believe

As missional leader, my task is to help my congregation, synod, and church wide to understand the need for adaptive leadership if we are to be vital and thriving hubs for missional outreach in the world. Additionally, I must motivate parishioners and lay leaders to be agents of change; not to be agents of status quo. Additionally, my goal allow the Spirit to transform my congregations from an inward focus of maintenance to an outward focus of mission and to invite my congregation to be agents of adaptive leadership and transformation beyond their comfort zones of homogeneity in their current community context. In other words, my assignment is to help my congregation to understand that the task of the church is to be the church. I must show them the importance of evangelism and outreach, but our doing is important must be married with our being the church. I must help my

There are many challenges to ministry in today’s world and having a vital and relevant ministry is even harder. Churches across all denominations face drastic declines in both attendees and financial giving. With this as the background, it is imperative that vital ministries seek out opportunities to grow and engage groups and communities that have previously been overlooked, missed or not involved for other reasons including some theological reasons. With this idea and goal in mind, this essay sets out to examine and design a process by which the Churches of Cherokee, Oklahoma can successfully connect with and minster to the new Hispanic community in Cherokee. Using the pastoral cycle method, a process will be designed in this essay to

In Student Ministry for the 21st Century, Bo Boshers urges his readers to reevaluate, minister, structure, and program with a purpose in order to reach the lost as well as develop and send out the church. Boshers first encourages readers to reevaluate their purpose. The first manner by which he suggests reevaluating one’s purpose is by leading with authenticity and remaining “REAL with Christ” (19). The acronym stands for “Recognize your fatal flaws,” “Experience God daily,” “Adjust your gauges,” and “Learn discipline.” Boshers claims that unless a leader is authentic, he or she will not be able to effectively minister to others.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Mathew 19:14 highlights Jesus’ love of children and His desire that they be able to come to Him unhindered. Unfortunately, with many children attending public schools where there is a general intolerance of all things Christianity, it is becoming more and more important that both families and churches are able to fill this gap. Enter Christ Church at Grove Farm’s Kid’s Ministry. CCGF offers Sunday School, Sunday Morning Childcare and Awana weekly, as well as Summer Day Camp once a year. This ministry is headed up by the family ministry pastor* followed by the director*, associate director*, employee*, child care staff, and volunteers. Every summer CCGF also hires one summer intern to assist in the planning and running of their Summer Day Camp. Although CCGF has been able to accomplish a great deal considering how shortly staffed they are, there are still many problems largely in the inner-workings of leadership that need to be improved in order for the ministry to better succeed. Christ Church’s Kid’s Ministry would improve with better communication, specifically in the areas of conflict and clarity, recognizing employee’s level of competence and placing them in an area where they can best use their abilities, and by focusing more on collaborating with parents. This paper will specifically document the ways in which these changes could be made in hopes of

After adding in Root and Nouwen into exposing what happened, why it happened, what should have happened, and what I can do about it, I’ve come to terms with both a challenge and a relief. These authors have set me free from viewing my ministry as a failure that is my fault, yet they have also sobered me into a challenge to share their vision. The three don’t always harmoniously unified, as Osmer says that “leadership is the exercise of influence” (Osmer, 26) while Root says that “influence was not only threatening but deadly to relational ministry” (Root, 764). So where do I go from here? I have never been more confident to say that the answer is that I don’t know. Because as my view on ministry matures, I become acutely more aware that “Jesus has a different vision of maturity: It is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go” (Nouwen, 81). Until then, though, I’m looking forward to my interview with the Sioux County

A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four

This course has had a great impact on my walk with Christ as well as my witness for Christ. I pastor a church and teach two classes and for me I thought that I was doing plenty. However this course has helped rekindle my passion for sharing Jesus Christ with people through personal evangelism. This paper will demonstrate what I have learned throughout this course.

In this paper, the student-writer will discuss the methods that are taught in In Effective biblical counseling: A model for helping caring Christians become capable counselors by Crabb (1977). The student-writer will also use what is taught in this book with the skills that are expressed in Creating a Healthier Church; Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and congregational life by Richardson (1996) and Blessed Connections: Relationships that sustain vital ministry, by Schwanz (2008). The student-writer will compare and contrast the skills that are mentioned in these books to establish a well maintained way in which to ministry to clients, and meet their needs as a counselor.