CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Churches and other ministry settings from Alaska to the U.S. Virgin Islands and around the world are providing educational settings for Lutheran seminarians through the Horizon Internship Program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
A master of divinity is the minimum degree required of ELCA clergy. Earning the degree usually requires a bachelor's degree and four years of seminary education, including a parish internship during the third year. Horizon interns complete that third year of seminary education with rural, urban, multicultural, mission development or international ministries.
"If we were to identify who benefits from the program, it would be the whole church," said the Rev. Gregory J. Villalon, ELCA director for multicultural leadership development.
Thirty-four sites in the United States and Caribbean are participating in the ELCA's Horizon Internship program during the 2000-2001 academic year: + Our Savior Lutheran Church, Nome, Alaska; + Resurrection Lutheran Church, Oakland, Calif.; + Central City Lutheran Mission, San Bernardino, Calif.; + Chinese Lutheran Church of Honolulu, Hawaii; + Bethany Lutheran Church, Chicago; + Iglesia Luterana Santa Cruz, Joliet, Ill.; + Abundant Life Lutheran Church, Plainfield, Ill.; + University Lutheran Church, Cambridge, Mass.; + Gracious Saviour Lutheran Church, Detroit; + Revelation Lutheran Church, Detroit; + Goodridge Area Lutheran Parish, Goodridge, Minn.; + Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Minneapolis; + Nordland Lutheran Church, Paynesville, Minn.; + Grace Lutheran Church, Camden, N.J.; + Transfiguration Lutheran Church, Bronx, N.Y.; + Emanuel and St. Luke Lutheran Churches, Valatie, N.Y.; + Sheyenne-Oberon Area Ministry, Sheyenne, N.D.; + Trinity Lutheran Church, Canton, Ohio; + Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Carey, Ohio; + Faith Mission (Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio), Columbus, Ohio; + St. Timothy Lutheran Church (Lutheran Social Services), Columbus, Ohio; + Salem Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio; + Church of Living Waters Lutheran Church, Burns, Ore.; + Redeemer Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore.; + St. Peter Lutheran Church, Bethlehem, Pa.; + Iglesia Luterana Nueva Creacion, Philadelphia; + Reformation Lutheran Church, Philadelphia; + Emanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh; + Christ the King Lutheran Church of the Deaf, West Chester, Pa.; + Attoway-Kimberlin Lutheran Church, Rural Retreat, Va.; + Saron Evangelical Lutheran Church, Hoquian, Wash.; + Christ the King Lutheran Church, Combined Locks, Wis.; + Cross Lutheran Church, Milwaukee; and + Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
The ELCA Division for Global Mission placed four interns in international sites: + Hong Kong -- part-time in a local congregation and part-time in the Filipino Guest Worker ministry; + Berlin -- the American Church in Berlin, an English-speaking congregation; + Bratislava, Slovak Republic -- an English-speaking congregation, while teaching religion and providing pastoral care at the Lutheran high school, Evangelicke Lyceum; and + Jerusalem -- Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, the English-speaking congregation in the Old City of Jerusalem. Redeemer houses several language-specific congregations -- Arabic, Danish and German -- and the offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan.
"All of these programs are designed to give the seminarians an added tool for when they go out into ministry," said Villalon, and the seminaries get valuable "classrooms." Making sure these ministries have the help of an intern supports the ELCA's goal of including people of all races and economic conditions, he said.
"International internship sites are a win-win program for the ELCA," said Kathy J. Magnus, associate director for international personnel, ELCA Division for Global Mission. "Not only does an international site benefit from the ideas, energy and care of an intern, but a seminarian's world view is forever changed and will forever have an impact on their ministry," she said.
"The benefits to ELCA congregations who are served by someone who has done international service are significant. These pastors are able to expand the horizons of the congregation and, through personal story, broaden the parish's view of 'neighbor,'" said Magnus.
An African American seminarian who served a congregation in New York through the Horizon Internship Program decided it would benefit her to learn Spanish, said Villalon. "Now she has been called to a congregation in the Bronx that is both African American and Latino, so her Horizon experience was truly a blessing for her," he said.
In mission development, an intern works with a pastor who is starting a new congregation. "The Division for Outreach has found that interns serving in mission development settings gain valuable experience and insight into reaching the unchurched with the gospel of Jesus Christ," said the Rev. Kathie Bender Schwich, the division's executive for leadership.
An average of about 27 interns have participated in the program each year since it was established in 1988, said Schwich.
Interns earn a stipend and may require housing; and that could be a financial hardship for some congregations. Horizon provides some funding, and seminarians and congregations are recruited and screened to match the needs of each.
Villalon administers the program for the ELCA Division for Ministry, and Schwich administers it for the ELCA Division for Outreach. They work closely with the church's 10,862 congregations through 65 synods, eight seminaries, Commission for Multicultural Ministries and Divisions for Church in Society and Global Mission.
The Division for Ministry commits about $150,000 and the Division for Outreach contributes about $100,000 each year to support the Horizon Internship Program. -- -- --
Villalon said improvements to the ELCA Web site will soon make it possible for congregations to download the necessary information and forms to apply for a Horizon grant. A page linked to the ELCA Commission for Multicultural Ministries site <http://www.elca.org/CMM/> will describe the partnership between congregations, supervisors and interns. The site will also list the internship directors of the eight ELCA seminaries.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
