REL 2480 Internship
Before the first day of class, students in REL 2480: Introduction to Ministry are asked to fill out a student interest form in which they indicate their vocational interests, prior ministry experience, and semester goals. During the first week of classes, each professor begins to know each student on an individual level. He or she makes an initial ministry placement based on ministry interests. Final internship placements are then decided jointly. The entire Ministry Guidance team comes together to prayerfully consider which supervisor will best serve each student that semester.
Approximately 65% of Baylor’s ministry students are female. Given this reality and the department’s longstanding commitment to egalitarianism, students, especially female students, are placed in egalitarian spaces whenever possible. Such placements ensure that students do the work of discernment in spaces where they are free to explore the fullness of God’s calling on their lives. It is a core value of Baylor’s religion department to ensure that women called to ministry are encouraged and supported in all aspects of our program, including the internship, and that men are also equipped for work in egalitarian contexts.
In addition, because this is an academic internship that is meant to mimic a future ministry position, most students are not placed in their current church. Other factors influence student placements, including the student’s stated vocational interests and goals for the semester. Faculty also consider where the students will have the most opportunity for growth, which often means placing them in a smaller church (or Christian nonprofit) where students can assume larger leadership roles and responsibilities. Not only do these churches benefit from students’ gifts, but students get to participate in a ministry setting like the ones that many will undertake in their first ministry placements.
This internship program model allows students to cultivate skills that are necessary for effective ministry, such as building community, trying new tasks, and adapting to change. Students expand their networks, gaining new mentors in ministry who will be additional conversation partners for them as they discern next steps. Finally, the commitment to placing students in new places serves to remind them that sometimes, many times, God calls us to step out of our comfort zone and embark on something new. Through the internship, students can practice growing and stretching those muscles in safe places with well-trained supervisors to guide them.