CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) helped arrange seminary internships in Argentina, Denmark, Ethiopia, Hong Kong and Slovakia this academic year. The ELCA Horizon International Internship Program provided the necessary funding for the internships.
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 their third year. Horizon interns complete the third year of seminary education with rural, urban, multicultural, mission development or international ministries.
The ELCA Division for Global Mission (DGM) placed interns at five international sites: + Argentina -- La Congregacion San Pedro in Posadas, a Spanish-speaking congregation of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church; + Denmark -- International Church of Copenhagen, an ecumenical congregation with members of about 25 nationalities; + Ethiopia -- International Lutheran Church, a member congregation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in Addis Ababa; + Hong Kong -- Filipina Fellowship, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hong Kong that serves Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong; and + Slovakia -- part-time with the English-speaking worship community in Bratislava, part-time religion teacher at the Evanjelicke Lyceum, high school of the Slovak church.
The DGM budget for the Horizon International Internship program this year is $78,450. It will pay the intern's expenses for international travel to and from the site, medical insurance, and travel expenses of a seminary director to visit the intern. The division provides the intern's stipend. DGM will also provide for the interns' participation in the division's orientation program for new mission personnel just prior to the start of their service and a re-entry program for interns in the fall after they have completed their service. The site provides housing and utilities.
DGM selected the international sites and interviews seminarians to match the students with the sites.
"There are a number of things that I think make an international internship placement a potentially valuable part of a student's preparation for ministry," said the Rev. Randolph A. Nelson, director for contextual education, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.
"First, there is generally a certain kind of mission mentality at work in the international congregation. It cannot take a whole lot for granted. It needs to be accessible, flexible and responsive to an ecumenical and a multicultural congregation. Students can benefit from being a part of such a congregation and helping its leadership think through the implications of mission," Nelson said.
"Second, the fact that most international congregations are ecumenical and multicultural puts a premium on being able to present the gospel clearly and in its basic form. Third, being in a different cultural context usually leads to a lot of personal growth as well as professional growth. Fourth, the horizons of the student are expanded by getting a sense of the global character of the church," he said.
Nelson added that the congregation hosting the intern "benefits in several ways. First, by hosting an intern they are serving the church at large in helping prepare future leaders of the church. Second, the intern adds to the overall ministry of the congregation even as he or she is the recipient of the congregation's hospitality." -- -- --
Information about the Horizon Internship Program is maintained at http://www.elca.org/dm/ethnic/English/horizon.html on the ELCA Web site.
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
