It’s hard to believe I’m writing my last newsletter article for internship. It seems like only yesterday that Pastor Bob was calling me up and telling me to expect an e-mail from the church secretary regarding my first newsletter piece.  Back then I tried real hard to introduce myself in only a few words.  Now it seems equally hard to say thank you and goodbye.

The internship road has been long and hard in some ways.  I arrived at the end of the Celebration! building project.  My first few weeks of parish ministry included painting and taping.  I watched as my mentors, Pastor Bob and Pastor Joleen plastered drywall and laid carpet tile.  It was a quick introduction into how “hands-on” parish ministry really is.  My first sermon was on divorce.  Yow.  It was only the second time I had ever preached with a congregation.  I taught my first confirmation class and went way over on time because I tried to cram too much information.  I attended my first wedding.  It was a mixed traditional/Pentecostal service which lasted several hours.  You can imagine what kind of experience that was.

All the time I was aware that people had certain expectations.  Would I preach like a pastor?  Would I remember everyone’s name like a pastor? Would I dress like a pastor?  Would I talk like a pastor?  Some people’s expectations were higher than others, which kept me on my toes.  Some people ’s expectations were moments of grace, allowing me to just be me.  In the tension between the two is where internship took place.

Now at the end of the road things seem quite different.  Well... sort of.  I ’m still helping out around the church, planting flowers and building the path to the fire pit and whatever odds and ends of things need to be done. My sermons are much different. The people here have given me wonderful feedback, both about my own presence as preacher and how meaningful the messages have been to them.  I got into the flow of confirmation and was really sad to see it end this year.  We had a lot of fun, especially at our lock in and challenge night.  And our most recent wedding was for one of our church staff.  What a beautiful time, surrounded by people who I had come to know as both friends and family.

I trust and pray that they all have grown by being a part of the ELCA’s internship program.  In the same way that they are able to provide strength and context for the journey of new pastors, they are gifted with all that interns bring.  Sometime interns and pastors for that matter may cause you to question what you believe.  But remember, asking what something means to you is one of the great things about being Lutheran.  On of my favorite quotes is from Princeton seminary professor Daniel Migliore  “Unquestioning faith soon slips into ideology, superstition, fanaticism, self-indulgence, and idolatry.  Faith seeks understanding passionately and relentlessly, or it languishes and eventually dies.”