Internships at St Nic’s Durham
Sara Huxley, Naomi Stevens, David Parkinson and Tim Wall - these are names we will all get to know well over the next few months for these are the names of the interns St Nic’s has recently appointed. But what is an intern? How will the scheme work? How did it come about?
Internship in churches is not a new thing. Many churches, including some in Durham, run internship schemes. When the idea was first raised, a working party, (David Day, Alison Swarbrick, Simon Hill, David Goodhew, Sarah Goudie, Judy Lowther, and Ruth Stokes) was formed to explore the concept e.g. different models operated by other churches; cost and time commitment implications etc were considered. This group reported back to PCC who agreed in principle to the scheme and formed a new Planning Group (Steve Bellamy, David Day, Susan Hill, Lindsey Goodhew, Simon Hill and Chris Robinson) to take things further. More detailed work was done in such areas as programme, supervision, accommodation etc.
This is how it will operate. The interns agree to volunteer to serve at St Nic’s for 30hrs each week and in return St Nic’s provides them with 10 hours of training each week and free accommodation.
The training programme which has been designed by and which will be supervised by David Day, will consist of 6 hours taught and 4 hours of personal study. There will be three strands to the programme:
- Biblical Studies – courses at Cranmer Hall
- Christian faith in the Modern World – 50% at Cranmer and 50% ‘in house’ teaching by clergy and members of the congregation.
- Personal & Spiritual Development – ‘in house’ teaching using CPAS ‘Growing leaders’ material.
In addition they will undertake a mission placement in partnership with Cranmer Hall and they will each be able to attend one conference during the year.
Of the 30 hrs/week Practical Ministry work in St Nic’s, 20 hrs will be spent working in one speciality to which they will be allocated e.g. Youth & Children’s work – supervised by Simon Hill; Student work supervised by Lindsey Goodhew. There will be flexibility in the choice of this speciality as we are keen to use and develop the personal gifts of each individual. Ten hours each week will be spent on general areas of ministry in the church e.g. Coffee Lounge. Again there will be flexibility to allow for everyone to concentrate on specific aspects of ministry e.g. Christmas Festival.
The overall cost of the scheme will be around £20K per year. This will cover the cost of accommodation, courses bought in from Cranmer, as well as conferences etc. Durham Diocese has kindly agreed to give us a grant of £10K per year for 3 years. The interns will be expected to raise their own funds to cover personal expenses.
The scheme was advertised on our website and attracted 6 applicants. These applicants all met with Simon Hill and Lindsey Goodhew and were then formally interviewed by Steve Bellamy, David Day and Susan Hill. The four successful applicants will start on 1st September and will be living in a rented house - at The Sidings near the Travelodge in Gilesgate. They will work with us for 10 months. During this time PCC will review things but all being well we anticipate appointing four new interns for the following year.
We will have the opportunity to learn a little more about Sara, Naomi, David & Tim in future.