Internships (Cantonese Ministry, English Youth Ministry, & Children Ministry)
Purpose of Internship Program
- To provide a relational setting within the local church for training, encouragement and support of seminarians or Bible School students who have clearly sensed God’s calling to fulltime Christian ministry.
- To provide opportunities for the intern to explore, test, expand, develop and affirm his/her spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, passions and field experiences within the context of ministry.
- To provide hands-on involvement and leadership in various areas of ministry under the guidance of a supervising pastor.
- To assist our church, mission field, and other churches in the placement of prospective interns in ministry positions for the kingdom of God.
Qualifications of Prospective Interns
- Be a Christian baptized with a written testimony of salvation.
- Be a member of our church or any recognized evangelical church. He/she should be willing to agree with the C&MA doctrinal statement and VCAC vision, mission and core values.
- Should have a written statement on God’s calling to ministry including various experience at church, mission field or other organizations.
- Be currently enrolled as a full-time or part-time student at a Seminary or Bible School with the intention of serving full-time in Christian ministry.
- Be recommended by the Senior Pastor.
- Be doctrinally sound, emotionally stable, and of good character, supported by 2 written references.
Benefits to the Interns
It should be emphasized that although interns are not paid staff, we desire to support them in the following ways:
- Regularly pray for our interns (personally and in prayer meetings).
- A monthly stipend of $1,000 will be provided for books, transportation, and other incidentals, for the duration of the term.
- Flexible working hours will be discussed with the supervising pastor and the intern.
Limitations of the Internship Program
- Internships are normally for a one-year term, except the last year, in which the internship ends upon the seminary of Bible School student’s graduation. Terms are renewable for an additional year as approved by the Internship Committee to a maximum of 2 years.
- Available openings are limited by pastoral supervision and budgetary considerations.
- Internship curriculum, time schedules and detail of program will be devised with the guidance of the supervising pastor.
- At the conclusion of the internship, there will be a meeting with the Congregation Pastor or Senior Pastor, but there will be no further obligation on the part of the church or intern.
- Due to the present workload of the pastors, no more than 3 interns will be accepted in any one calendar year. This number may be reviewed as our church ministries broaden and more full-time staff is added.
Application Procedures
- Interested applicant should submit a resume with a written testimony of God’s calling to full time ministry to the Senior Pastor.
- Applicant will be interviewed by the Internship Committee.
- The Internship Committee will comprise of 2 pastors and 2 elders/deacons, to be appointed by the Senior Pastor.
- The final decision is made by the Senior Pastor.
Expectations of Interns
(To be communicated to interns by the intern ministry supervising pastor)
- Vision: To provide ministry experiences and development with constructive feedback (encouraging & areas of improvement) that will allow the interns to practice and grow in their pastoral/ministry leadership skills.
- Supervising Pastor will prepare a job description for each intern. The job description may be replaced or modified with a framework recommended by a Bible school or seminary. Regular meetings between supervising pastor & intern to provide mutual feedbacks.
- Interns will be invited to regular staff meetings on an as-needed basis.
- The supervising pastor should make sure the interns have the appropriate tools, space, communication (phone) for effective ministry.
- Interns will provide regular reports of time scheduled/planned for ministry, personal development, and study to their supervising pastor.
For Payroll
- Interns are not employees, CPP and UI would not be deducted from their stipends.
- Government website: “Federally regulated employer obligations towards interns and student interns” https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/federal-labour-standards/employer-obligations-interns.html