Introduction and Response

Gentlemen,

First, I would like to welcome Ben Hames as a contributor to our blog. For you readers that do not know Ben, he is a recent graduate of Southeastern Seminary and a dear friend to us, who is now completing an internship with Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Marietta, GA. Ben, I appreciate the paedobaptist backup!

Charlie, thanks for asking about my internship. I'll try to be brief. As part of the preparation process for ordination as a teaching elder (minister) in the PCA, a year-long internship has to be completed and approved by the presbytery. This can be done while you're in seminary (like me), or upon completion of seminary (like Ben). For my specific internship, the goal is to immerse (no pun intended for my Baptist friends) me in every aspect of the ministry of the local church, which in my case is Christ Our Hope Church. I have a substantial number of assigned books to read, as well as various projects and papers that I am to complete. Currently, I am teaching junior high Sunday school and am responsible for organizing and starting the youth ministry for our church. This summer I will serve as a teacher in adult Sunday school. As stipulated in my internship proposal, I also will preach for this congregation ten times (I've currently completed two) by next May. Since Presbyterian polity emphasizes strong connectionalism, I will be meeting with many other Presbyterian ministers in the presbytery to discuss various aspects of Reformed theology and ministry practice.

I'm sure that I have forgotten many other duties in this quick explanation, but I think that you get the broad strokes. My question for you is this: What prevents most SBC churches from enacting some type of structured internship program? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing so?

Soli Deo Gloria!