“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2:2
“A man is ‘Able to Teach’ when he has the necessary skills to exegete and communicate the truth of God accurately and clearly, and a sufficient knowledge of Scripture and doctrine to exhort in sound doctrine and refute error.”
Pastor Tom Pennington, Countryside Bible Church
Able to Teach
XL’s founders believe that the church is the absolute best place to train men for pastoral ministry. Because of this, in 1992 XL Ministries was formed with the intent of developing internships that could be accomplished within the context of the local church.
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“Churches can easily fall into the habit of praying that God will raise up elders for the benefit of the church, as though the responsibility falls completely on God. The truth is that it is the church’s responsibility to train godly men to become elders.”
Rocky Wyatt, President, XL Ministries
XL Ministries Internship
Our internship doesn’t send people off to seminary. It focuses the development of the intern right in their local church. Hands-on training for ministry is most effective when supervised by an experienced pastor. In this way interns can be exposed to the rigors, failures, and triumphs of ministry in an environment that is protective of both the interns and those with whom they work. To that end, we work to equip and empower the local church to train its own leaders and elders.
One mandate upon pastors is to train up other pastors. In line with this, the XL Ministries internship sets up a tested, thoughtful, faithful, and proven way for such biblical discipleship and training to take place. XL internships incorporate theological training as well as practical training, because those are both essential for a man to succeed in ministry. Our internships are accomplished in like-minded churches, large or small.
Brian Murphy, Executive Director, XL Ministries
Jonathan Anderson, Senior Associate Pastor, Countryside Bible Church
Our Programs
XL offers two internship programs: Pastoral and Missions. Pastoral internships are geared toward either lead/associate pastoral ministry or youth pastoral ministry. The programs are the same with regard to Bible knowledge, systematic theology and practical theology. The youth program also incorporates training topics that are specific to youth ministry. Though some might expect missions and pastoral internships to be vastly different, they are actually similar in many aspects. The XL missions program includes the same Bible knowledge and theological training as the pastoral programs, because missionaries need to be qualified as church elders just the same as pastors. You’ll see the similarities in our missions program, as well as a very intentional focus on training geared specifically for missions.
PASTORAL INTERNSHIP
MISSIONS INTERNSHIP
(Click program logo for more detail, including a downloadable explanation booklet.)
Each program is a combination of practical and theological training incorporating a series of assignments over the course of two to three years. Internships are 24 months long, unless the intern is in seminary during the internship. Interns who are also in seminary can choose either a 30- or 36-month schedule. Each intern will study under the supervision of their local pastor and complete monthly assignments.
The success of a training ministry can often be attributed to great advance planning and proper administration. Pastoral and missions training is essentially as diverse as the church. After all, the intent is to equip someone theologically and practically to be able to do the work of the ministry in the life of the church. There are many internships that are offered in churches. Some are very helpful in training a person for ministry. Others are more designed to meet specific needs in a church and offer a person the opportunity to gain experience, rather than to provide intentional training. True pastoral and missions training is much more developed. It is based on a discipleship relationship between the church leaders and the intern, and includes education as well as practical experience. It is not simply a program designed for someone to improve their leadership skills.
What We Believe
We believe in glorifying God. We accomplish this by guiding churches towards the training and equipping of their own members to be leaders in their local church. We believe that, by the Lord’s grace, He will raise up qualified leaders to perform the work of the gospel in the church.
Our Goals
ELEVATE
Raise the standard of ministry.
EMPOWER
Call all Christians to a life of holiness, purity, and utter devotion to Christ.
ENCOURAGE
Work within the local church, recognizing it as God’s instrument for reaching the world for Jesus Christ.
EQUIP
Provide opportunity for individuals to receive practical ministry training within the local church.
Our Goals
Elevate
Raise the standard of ministry
Empower
Call all Christians to a life of holiness, purity, and utter devotion to Christ
Equip
Provide the opportunity for individuals to receive practical ministry training with the local church
Encourage
Work within the local church, recognizing it as God’s instrument for reaching the world for Jesus