Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What’s the next step for an intern once they complete the training?
A: What we’ve seen happen the most with our internship graduates is that that they end up staying on and being hired by the church that trained them. We also have a number of our internship graduates that have gone overseas to serve as missionaries.
Q: Does a mentor need training before being able to intern someone?
A: XL Ministries will provide the structure and guidance you’ll need to get started and through the internship process there is a member of the XL Ministries leadership that will be monitoring the internship and available for you if you have any questions about what to do. It may mean that you may have to do some studying yourself just so you can catch up which can even help to serve you in your own leadership.
Q: Can I still be a Youth Pastoral Intern if my church doesn’t have a youth pastor to mentor me?
A: Yes, as long as the leadership of the church is able and willing to help you with the internship program. You’ll still need a church leader or elder to mentor you through the process and as long as you have someone to meet with you, review your materials, and guide you through the training process then you can still do an XL Ministries Internship.
Q: If I want to be an intern in something other than Pastoral or Missions, can I still be an intern?
A: Yes. Although XL Ministries only specifies internships in Pastoral, Youth Pastoral, and Missions, most of what is needed in your leadership service to the church is pastoral in nature. Even though your application may vary, you’ll find that the Pastoral training easily relates to other area of church service.
Q: Do I need to go through the Becoming a Biblcal Leader myself or some other training before I can mentor someone else?
A: No. The BBL is a self-contained manual that is designed for someone without any prior knowledge or training to use even as the mentor discipling someone else.
Q: Becoming a Biblical Leader VS Becoming a Biblical Elder?
A: Becoming a Biblical Leader can be used generally within the church. It’s a tool that helps leaders within the church to learn how to function as church leaders, wherever they serve. Becoming a Biblical Elder is intended to take someone through the role and responsibilities of being an elder.
Q: How much time will the internship require from both the mentor and the intern?
A: There are some things that we wouldn’t necessarily count the time because they’ll be joining you in things the things you would normally do like hospital and home visits. It’s not extra time but just including the intern in the things you do. But when it comes to the formal meetings, we would recommend ever other week to go over the theology and practice with them. The interns will have to invest more time because they assignments that they need to do.
Q: What do I, as a pastor, do when someone feels called to missions but I disagree?
A: Those are hard conversations to have. Sometimes someone come up that has a heart for missions and they can communicate their heart for it, but unfortunately now just isn’t the time. And sometimes, missions just isn’t for them. Maybe more life experience or more training will help to focus the future, but those conversations are important to have to keep people from being set up for failure.
Q: Can a husband and wife do an internship together?
A: Yes. The Missions Internship program is set up to train both spouses. Since a commitment to missions, especially overseas, affects the whole family, it’s right and appropriate for both to want to be trained. You’re going to be a team out on the mission field, and making sure that the entire team gets sufficient training is an important part of missions training.
Q: How long will a missions internship be?
A: We believe that a missionary should be trained at the elder level. Our program is for 2 years.
Q: Can you do the missions internship while you’re in seminary?
A: It can be done. It is a lot of work but you’ll find the two will complement each other very well.
Q: How much time during the week will the internship take?
A: It’s going to vary person to person, but it will probably take 6-8 hours a week for your own Bible and theology, reading the books, writing the papers, etc. It will take your mentor probably 1-2 hours a week.
Q: Would it be better to go into missions before we have kids or wait until after they’re grown?
A: Not necessarily. There is no age limit on when you can take your family into missions. If this is what you believe God has for you to do, then you just trust God to protect your kids.
Q: Can someone do seminary at the same time as an internship?
A: There is a benefit from doing seminary at the same time as the internship because it helps to keep the interns from being primarily academic. We want them to benefit from the academics but never apart from the practical realities of life in the church ministry. If someone is doing seminary, the assignments from us are different because the seminary will have them do it. Having said that, they can be done separately or together.
Q: How much time is needed for the internship for the interns as well as the mentor?
A: The internship is relational so there’s a lot that would be considered part of the internship that isn’t really extra time for the mentor; it’s work that is already part of his routine. The intern on the other hand will have a lot of work to do.
Q: Can women apply in the missions internship?
A: Yes. Women have a vital role that they can play as missionaries whether single or married. God has used women on the missions field throughout the centuries and will continue to do so.
Q: Can women apply in the missions internship?
A: Yes. Women have a vital role that they can play as missionaries whether single or married. God has used women on the missions field throughout the centuries and will continue to do so.