The Covenant Internship Program provides learning opportunities in Tucson, AZ, for men who are ready to grow their gifts for service in Christ’s church. We aim to help prepare men, from all sorts of backgrounds, for faithful and sustainable pastoral service in the OPC. All internships include intentional, supportive mentoring with lots of ministry opportunities.

Micro Internships

Micro internships are project-based opportunities designed to help you serve the church while improving your knowledge and skills in a specific aspect of church service. Depending on the objective, micro internships can be done in person or remotely, lasting between 2-8 weeks long. Email info@covenantopctucson.org to propose a micro-internship project or hear about current opportunities.

Summer Internships

Can you take the heat? Our summer internships are 12-week pastoral training intensives. Under the desert sun of the Old Pueblo, you will experience the full range of pastoral duties, complete small service projects, and get help developing targeted pastoral skills and character. Our main goal is to help you feel what pastoral ministry is like and evaluate your readiness for pastoral ministry. We will provide you with an evaluation of your current level of pastoral fitness at the beginning of your time and when you leave, a tailor-made plan for continuing growth.

Year-Long Church Planting Internships

The year-long internship includes the benefits of the summer internship and extends them. With more time and space, you can take on more challenging tasks and experience more of the rhythms of pastoral ministry. And with a concentration in church planting, this internship will help you develop pastoral skills in the context of organizing and developing core groups. You will also learn how to foster a culture of evangelism, build and implement strategies for outreach, mentor future leaders, and more.

Are you eligible?

The Covenant Summer Internship Program is open to men who have completed their undergraduate education and are ready to grow their gifts for pastoral ministry. We are looking for hard workers and self starters who don’t get ahead of their training. Preference is given to those who are under care of their presbytery and are pursuing pastoral ministry in the OPC.

We believe we can best serve an intern who:

• Understands what makes a good mentorship and is ready to do his part.
• Is committed to learning and using safe online practices and certain IT tools, as requested.
• Meets most or all of our standards for coming under-care.

Expectations for your time at Covenant

Before the internship begins, we will help you secure housing for you and your family and you will move into . You will move into your residence before the internship begins. During your internship, you will need to have a schedule that is known and published. Your days off will be Friday and Saturday, and you will vacation time.

It is important that you fully participate in all Lord’s Day services, church-wide activities, and other assigned meetings, unless excused. You must also complete your assignments, teach and live within the bounds of our creeds, and maintain a high level of integrity. Failure to fulfill these requirements may result in an early termination of the internship and loss of pay.

Although exact duties may change depending on your readiness and the needs of the church, you will get to observe, practice, and reflect on the full range of pastoral duties as well as other aspects of life in the church, including communion preparation, diaconal work, and administrative tasks.

Your path to a successful experience

The internship experience can be challenging, but God trains us through our trials, when we walk together in Him. Through your experience you will gain a deeper understanding of the gospel, as well as its ministry. Here’s what it looks like.

Phase 0: Mapping the Journey

The goal of this phase is to build trust and determine a plan for meeting your primary goals. This will be accomplished by email and video or in-person meetings.

Phase 1: Starting Out

For micro-internships, this phases involves taking the initial steps in fact-finding or experimentation. For summer and year-long internships, the goals for this phase are (1) build healthy relationships, (2) provide a high-level overview of pastoral work at Covenant, (3) outline key skills required for faithful service, (4) do a gap analysis of your key skills, and (5) update the internship plan put together during Phase 0.

As you go, you will add tasks to a weekly calendar that fall in line with your developmental goals and which provide practice opportunities for key skills identified during the gap analysis. You will also settle into weekly rhythms, while remaining flexible and adaptable to change.

Phase 2: Exploration

For micro-internships, the goal of this phases to is to bring your project to completion. For summer and year-long internships, this phase is for observing, experiencing, practicing, and reflecting on the full range of pastoral duties while working on your particular goals. Assigned readings and discussion will help you through this process.

Phase 3: Winding Down

The goal for this phase is to wind down your responsibilities, reflect on what you have learned, transition your work to others as necessary. You will also evaluate your current readiness for ministry, determine your next goals, celebrate what was achieved, and say good-bye.

Funding

Mirco internships are unpaid, volunteer opportunities. Summer and year-long interns receive monthly pay, furnished housing, reimbursement for travel expenses to and from the internship, ministry-related travel reimbursements during the internship, a stipend for books, and vacation time.

We depend on generous donors to help fund and grow the Covenant Internship Program, including the OPC committees for worldwide outreach. If you would like to learn how you can help, please send us an email to let us know. We can share more about the program and let you know our prayers for the future.