Mentor's Guide for XL Ministries Internships
Thank you for being an internship mentor with XL Ministries. We want to provide you with all the support and resources you need to train the next generation of your church’s leaders.
Below is some information and some general resources to help guide you on the assignments, internship steps, and tools that are available to you while mentoring your intern.
USING MONDAY.COM
XL Ministries uses a cloud-based software called Monday.com to keep track of an intern’s progress through their program. Mentors will use it to upload the assignments by quarter. From inside Monday, both mentors and XL staff can see the intern and their quarters broken down as well as all the assignments and where each quarter is. Monday.com also has a mobile app and makes uploading the assignments easy to do and keep up with.
Reminders for Uploading Assignments into Monday
If you add comments into the word document as side-document comments, save it as a PDF before you load into Monday.COM.
USING THE CHECKLIST
The internship checklist is a summary schedule of everything the intern needs to do to complete their internship program. The checklist breaks down assignments by each month of the internship: Verse Memorization, Bible Knowledge, and Theology Questions. The Bible Knowledge and Theology Questions come from the Ordination Training manual. There is also a checklist section to help to keep track of the ministry exposure/participation requirements, etc.
Mentors need to be editing this checklist each month, and then upload the revised checklist along with the quarterly evaluation at the end of each quarter.
ORDINATION TRAINING MANUAL
The Ordination Training manual contains the required memorization assignments for Bible Knowledge, as well as the Systematic Theology, Biblical Counseling and Apologetics questions for some of the intern’s monthly written assignments. Also included are possible resources for the intern to use when answering the questions.
FAITHFUL STEWARDS VIDEO SESSIONS
Within the first two months of their internship, all interns are to watch Sessions 1 – 4 of the Faithful Stewards Conference 2022: Loving Christ by Feeding His Sheep. (Session 5 – Q&A is optional.)
VERSE MEMORIZATION & BIBLE KNOWLEDGE
Through their internship, interns will need to memorize and review verses and general Bible knowledge. The Bible Knowledge sections are in the Ordination Training manual. Interns are responsible to go through the appropriate sections according to their checklist schedule, and to review that information regularly. Someone should be working with the intern on a regular basis to help them review and know this information. It is not necessary that the mentor themselves or even someone with formal training go over this information with them. Anyone can help an intern review this information.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Along with the memorization and written assignments that each intern will need to complete each month, there is also a list of general requirements for the intern to complete over course of their entire internship program. Items completed from this list should be updated on the checklist regularly and submitted each quarter.
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
Each intern will be responsible to complete a series of systemic theology questions each month of their internship. For the 30- and 36-month internships, the intern can choose which questions to answer in a given month. The 24-month internship specifies exactly which questions to answer each month. Page 2 of the checklist for the 30- and 36-month internships tracks which questions have been completed.
THE YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING MANUAL
The Youth Ministry Training Manual is only for interns specializing in youth ministry. Their internship checklist has an extra column indicating specific sections to read as they go through their internship. Each section ends with questions for the intern to answer as part of their written work that month. A PDF version for this manual is not yet available.
ASSIGNMENTS
Interns in the 24-month programs will have a series of book reports and position papers to complete throughout the course of their internship. Not every month will require an assignment, and there are four months where the mentor can choose the subject for the paper or book report for the intern to complete. There is a also section at the bottom of page 2 where the mentor can specify other assignments specific to their church.
EVALUATIONS
As part of each internship, mentors will fill out a series of evaluations regarding the intern. These evaluations are done by filling out a digital form. Click the link to access an app for your mobile device or a website on your computer. You can save the APP on a mobile device or bookmark the link in a browser.
- Quarterly Evaluations: at the end of each quarter, mentors fill out an evaluation on the progress of the intern over the last three months.
- Teaching Evaluations: whenever an intern teaches, the mentor should fill out a teaching evaluation on how that intern did.
- Event Evaluations: whenever an intern is in charge of an event, the mentor should fill out an event evaluation on how that intern did.
XL LEADERSHIP REVIEW
There is a member of XL Ministries leadership assigned to follow each intern’s progress. Once a quarter’s assignments and evaluations are in, that XL leader will review the assignments and any notes that the mentor made. This is also a chance for the XL leader to speak to any questions or concerns that the mentor has.
This section is only used by XL Ministries leadership.
MOCK CANDIDATING
The Mock Candidating session is a critical component in the training of an intern. It’s an opportunity for church leaders as well as members of the church to meet with the intern. It’s a simulation to show the intern what they can expect when candidating at a church.
Candidacy is a meeting with a collected group from the church to ask philosophical questions as to how a candidate for pastor would deal with certain issues, as well as his perspective or opinion on various topics. It’s also a chance for the candidate to ask questions of the church and its leadership. The goal is to make sure that the candidate and the church are a good fit for one another.
An intern will walk through a Mock Candidating session with their training church around mid-way through their internship. If your church has never done a Mock Candidating session with XL Ministries, then a member of XL Ministries Board or Leadership will be involved and present to help guide the exercise along.
ORDINATION
An oral ordination exam is done at the completion of the internship as the final evaluation and demonstration of the intern’s training. The intern will stand before a group of the church leadership, who will ask questions from the Bible knowledge and theology covered throughout the internship, allowing the intern to demonstrate what has been learned.