Reflections on our Internship

For six weeks this summer, we were both extraordinarily blessed to spend time with St. George's Church, Holborn, in London, England.  We went into this internship with only a vague idea of what we wanted to learn, more of an attitude of just trying to soak as much up as we could.  Our expectations were completely surpassed, and the Lord not only taught us things through the wonderful people of St. George's, and those of the church in England, but also blessed us tremendously through prophecies, words, prayers, and dreams.  Below are some of our reflections on what we learned and what we received.

Reflections on St. George's
During our time with the church we were privileged to participate in the youth ministry, the children's ministry, the PCC (Vestry) meetings, and the staff meetings.  We were also able to spend a lot of time with the parishioners themselves, over dinner, at Focus, or at other events.  These experiences gave us a glimpse into the life and operation of the church and, over our six weeks, we found certain themes that kept recurring as places and ways that the Lord had blessed the church.

Welcome - When asked what brought them back to St. George's after the first visit, many people said that when they walked in, they 'just felt like this was home'.  Most used this phrase exactly.  Obviously, this is a work of the Spirit of God, to speak to the hearts of the people walking in.  However, the Spirit uses certain gifts of the congregation to do so.  The fact that the vicar, John Valentine, is particularly gifted in recognizing visitors, welcoming them personally, talking with them, introducing them to other people, and remembering them when they return is a huge part of this.  Also, the congregation is extraordinarily welcoming.  They are always offering tea or coffee, they are interested in where people are coming from, and they aren't afraid to invite people over for dinner (Visitors: be advised, it would be a mistake to ignore these invitations; the dinners they serve are amazing!).

Vision - The idea of vision also came up in the majority of our conversations.  People appreciated that the vision of the church was clear: Jesus for Holborn.  It's a vision that is both concrete and broad.  People know that the church is focused on their local community, which strengthens their efforts on a narrower field.  The vision is also broad in that the whole church can join in, and can offer their own ideas on how to bring the Lord Jesus to the community.  This vision is also communicated often and in many ways.  This gives the church a sense of identity.

Prayer - Another recurring theme that we found was prayer.  Prayer is in everything at St. George's.  It's in the Sunday worship, the staff meetings, the PCC meetings, the coffee meetings, in early morning prayer meetings, and in homes.  The people of St. George's talk and act like they believe that prayer works!  Step 1 in the plan to raise money for the building refurbishment was prayer, and it was stated not like it was a throw away, but as the real step 1.  We're not sure why this was so astounding to us, but prayer holds a central place at St. George's that was new and exciting for us.  We hope that it becomes the norm for us.

Our Take Aways

Vision - Although vision is a frequent topic of conversation at Trinity School for Ministry, at St. George's we saw the practical, on the ground, implications of a well thought-out and well communicated vision.  Something that Brian in particular is taking away as he enters this his curacy at Holy Spirit Anglican Church is the need to catch the vision of the church and the rector and make sure that he is communicating that vision frequently and on multiple levels.

Team - St. George's works as a team.  For each ministry, the head of that ministry is constantly on the look-out for others to join in the work as their spiritual gifts best fit.  They not only look for team from within the parish, but the church also regularly brings in interns for things, so that they can help out and also be trained.  This allows people to join in the work and feel a part of the work of God in Holborn.  It also seems to help stop burnout in staff.  We hope to be 'team people' in our new ministries ahead of us; people who build teams and encourage others to do so.

Student Ministry - We were privileged to meet some of the leading lights in university student ministry in England.  This included Hannah Bowring of Fusion, Laura Douglas-Bates of Student Alpha, Stuart Browning of Holy Trinity Cambridge Student Ministry, Jamie Haith of Campus Alpha, Sarah Miller of Holy Trinity Brompton Student Ministry, and Liz Clutterbuck of St. George's Holborn Student Ministry.  These individuals are all actively engaged in spreading the gospel and equipping students in their walk with Christ.  Each of them took time out of their busy schedules to tell us their stories, share with us their wisdom, and give us some specific tips for the ministry that lay ahead of us at San Diego State University.  They had some very practical advice for us, and here are some of the bigger headlines.

• Mentors - most of the leaders of the students ministries, and many of the young people with whom we spoke, talked about the importance of mentors.  Mentors give a listening ear to students and wisdom that comes from having lived through many of the same experiences.  They are also a living testimony that God can bring you through whatever it is that is the big burden at the time.  While each church had a different method for connecting students to mentors, they all agreed that this inter-generational aspect was crucial for ministry.
• Release Your Students - a common comment among the student leaders was trying to make sure that they didn't run a 'consumer ministry'.  They did not want their students to have the expectation of showing up and having everything done for them without then offering anything in return.  An important part of this is being able to release your students into ministry in your church.  This means that they can serve in the music team, prayer team, be a small group leader, readers, on the cooking team, etc. just like anyone else can.  Identifying their gifts and plugging them in is a key part of the job of the leadership.  In doing so, the students actually become a part of the church rather than a small sub-sect that is isolated.
• Focus Your Students - keeping in mind the previous point, Hannah Bowring pointed out the need to focus the students' time on ministering to their fellow students at their university.  University is only one of two places in life where you eat, sleep, work, and play with the same group of people in the same proximity.  The other place is prison.  So, while the students can join the different teams in the church, these ministries and teams shouldn't eat up so much of their time that they have no time to spend with and be available for their non-Christian friends at university.
• Have a Heart for Students - a final point was that the biggest thing churches can do to reach out to students is to have a heart for them.  This means be eager to serve and support them in their walk with Christ.  Hannah, who works with churches all over England, said that she has never heard of a church which wanted to minister to students that did not get any to come to their church in the process of their efforts.  No matter the worship style of the congregation, there is going to be some student who has those tastes.  As long as they are invited, welcomed, and encouraged, they will be there.

Prophecies, Dreams, Visions, and Words

One aspect of our internship which was completely unexpected was the number of prophesies, dreams, visions, and words which people received from the Lord for us specifically.  This was something with which we have little experience, but found it to be very encouraging nonetheless.  While we won't list out the different words, etc... which we were given, we heard enough to know that these were genuine.  They were accurate with the trends in our life and how we were feeling led, and many of them came from unexpected places or from people who didn't know us at all.  Clearly, the Lord wanted to convey His message of encouragement and direction to us through these communications. We made sure to write them down to look back on and know that the Lord is watching over us, that we can trust in Him, and hope in the future which He has for us.  We look forward to seeing how He works to fulfill these in the months and years to come.

Conclusion

That's about it for our reflections.  Needless to say, we are so happy that we had this opportunity.  We are incredibly grateful to those whose prayers and support made this possibility into a reality. We are thankful for the hospitality of St. George's, especially that of the vicar and his family (who housed us the entire time, and fed us more than just occasionally), without whom this would not have been possible.  Our feelings as we ended the internship were of being incredibly full.  We have received so much and know that the Lord is challenging us to pass it on, to arrive at our next place in ministry and give as much hospitality and blessing as we were shown in London.  Thank you Lord for your goodness and grace to us! Amen.