Future AUC Pastors Explore Their Calling Through Ministerial Internships University education to calling, beginning pastor to licensed minister, then on to commissioning or ordination. Pastors are made, not born. And ministerial internships are an important part of that process. Every year, conference presidents and ministerial secretaries travel to Avondale University to interview graduating theology students. The students indicate their preference for future jobs—usually chaplaincy or pastoring—and program leaders consider those preferences along with candidates’ specific attributes and strengths before recommending them for an internship placement. “Internships are important because those initial two years are when new pastors develop the basic skills they need to succeed in ministry,” says Pr Andre Vieira, Greater Sydney Conference Ministerial Association Secretary. “They need a lot of supervision and support, time to make mistakes and learn, and the freedom to ask questions so they can grow as much as possible in a safe environment.” Internships start as soon as ministerial students graduate from college. They receive a calling to intern for a local conference as a school chaplain or pastor for two years. During this time, interns are accountable to work with an appointed supervisor, a senior minister who will supervise them and serve as a mentor and coach during the internship. Once a year, all interns in the Australian Union attend a week-long camp, where they meet with union staff and mentor pastors to become inspired, share, learn, and find motivation to serve others. “The intern camp … was vital for my ministry,” says intern Josh Carnie, who is serving as Kellyville.Church Associate Pastor and Hills Adventist College Chaplain. “It inspired me that there were so many leaders that wanted to pour into my leadership and help me understand the reality of ministry in all its glory.” Mentor pastors aren’t the only ones who help interns as they learn and grow. “Local churches, especially the elders, need to be tolerant and patient,” shares Pr Vieira.
“They can work alongside senior pastors in encouraging, coaching, and mentoring interns so they can grow.” He shares that most church leaders understand interns are new to ministry and grant them patience and grace. “Everyone is in this together,” he says, “and everyone benefits if we have good interns becoming pastors”. Once the two-year internship process is complete, candidates qualify to become licensed ministers. After more experience, they can be commissioned or ordained. But the internship program is vital in helping support them in the early days of their ministry and helping them move into future leadership roles. And it’s looking forward to this lifetime of ministry that makes the internship program so important, according to Pr Vieira. “Ministry isn’t a career, it’s a service,” he says. “When people work in a corporation, they expect to grow in rank. But in ministry, the highest position is ordained minister, so the local church is actually the highest placement. Whatever appointments people receive is the church recognising specific skills that make some people able to serve in different roles, like conference president or official. But those people are ordained ministers first, so there’s no higher position in the church than ordained minister.” Diversity and inclusion matter more than ever in ministry, and Australian Union officials are working to increase the numbers of women and minorities in pastoral roles. “We have opened doors,” says Pr Vieira. “This year we’ve had
