Those of us who have spent our summers with teenagers in youth ministry often feel a certain bond with our fellow interns. Who can forget eating all that ice cream with high schoolers, playing kickball with middle schoolers, or even wrangling the masses of pre-K-through- elementary schoolers at VBS programs? There is something sacred about the humid lull of the summer afternoon laden with the anticipation of an awkward teenage pool party.
As I reflect on my summer internship, I can see the ways in which working with the youth was a formative experience for me. Yet of my many friends who have also been youth interns, several felt their internships lacked substance or direction. It seems as if there must be some fundamental differences between a formative, pivotal summer internship and one that feels aimless. When I consider what qualities might define a substantive internship, I have the privilege of reflecting on my experience.
I can’t speak to every youth ministry or every summer internship, but I can speak to the features of my youth internship which marked it as a spiritual turning point in my life. Here are few things my youth internship did well—which also happen to be things which are integral to running a fruitful summer student ministry.
Structure
My summer youth internship had weekly structure, and it wasn’t only a bunch of entertainment programming. The backbone of the weekly schedule for interns was not only the fun summer events for students; it included hours spent at the office learning, praying, and planning for the week and for how to reach out to students. There was a central locale to the internship—the interns had a home base. Having dedicated office space was crucial for me to feel connected to the youth staff and other interns, and it encouraged me to consider the internship as a daily job, not an afterthought. It also made the ministry the centerpiece of the internship; our work was not about only hanging out with students. There was plenty of in-office learning and planning which led interns to intentionally schedule time with students later.
The weekly meetings of the youth group were geared more toward learning and less toward playing games or socializing. The social components of ministry became the responsibility of the interns to coordinate outside of scheduled time. Even though students weren’t in school, it was important not to supplant learning with play—as if the spiritual learning year ended in May. Students learn that their relationship with Jesus is not tested or measured, but it is a continuous journey. Structure created stability and boundaries for students and interns alike—things which enabled all of us to flourish in creating healthy routines, rather than that summer slump of laziness.
Theology
The backbone of the curriculum for the students was grounded first and foremost in the gospel. If the central physical locale of the office provided a home base, the truth of the gospel was the centerpiece to the curriculum and methodology of our ministry. Crucial to effective ministry was the fact that interns were nourished on the truth of the gospel.
In our case, instruction in the gospel was reinforced by biblical studies and systematic theology for students and for interns. A great internship will provide resources for educating the interns in the things they are expected to be teaching students. Our internship included a weekly class—we called it “Theology Workshop”—where we were introduced to an overview of the “ologies.” From theology (proper) all the way to eschatology, we were given a framework for understanding our faith, the church, and the beauty of the triune God revealed in Scripture. This “reality check” was a guiding force behind all of our thinking, praying, teaching, and conversations with students that summer. Teaching your interns theology—or at least exposing them to topics of theology—is a way the church can use its collective knowledge to uniquely bless their interns while they serve students.
Learning to Teach
This may be implicit in the first two points, but instructing us how to teach a Bible study or a Sunday School lesson was one of the most important things my youth director did for us as interns. We were not simply taught how to manage student behavior, but how to illuminate the gospel in every Bible lesson we gave. That summer we taught Psalms in Sunday School and Revelation at each weekly gathering (for junior high and high school, separately). We had a staff that was willing to help us work through any questions or concerns we had about the Scripture, and we were encouraged to use resources like commentaries and other material to help us better understand what we were teaching. I ended the summer understanding better the main point of teaching the Bible: for students to know the gospel, and therefore to know Jesus.
Discipleship
My youth internship summer was 2020—the summer of shutdowns and quarantines. Hanging out with students was much more difficult than an average summer. Outside meetings, spaced-out yard games, and gracious families’ backyards saved our fellowship. Ironically, the lack of one-on-one student connection reinforced the importance of discipleship. The pandemic exposed students’ latent isolation and showed us their dire need for close, true relationships.
Though my summer was abnormal in this sense, it reminded me of the importance of faithfully reaching out to students. When it was possible, hanging out with students outside of weekly events provided a space for students to share, ask questions, or just be with the interns. An effective youth intern views the seemingly mundane task of spending time with students to be some of the most lasting and beautiful work. Discipleship is at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. While interns will not likely see instant results, they sow seeds of discipleship and ask the Lord to cause the student’s future relationships to grow.
Perspective
Summer interns are just what their title indicates: present for the summer. An intern’s relationship with students should be about their more permanent relationships with Jesus, with the church, and with their families.
Obviously, interns cannot manipulate students to have better relationships with others. What they can (and should) do is model being a listening ear, a steady loving presence (even when they may be trying to annoy an intern), and, when appropriate, a voice of wisdom pointing them to Jesus, to their parents, and to the church. If the intern’s primary concern is about the student liking him or thinking he’s cool, that intern has missed the point.
The student should see in the intern one who has been reconciled through the blood of Jesus into fellowship with God, into healthy relationship with family and friends, and into active membership in the body of believers.
