wfn.org | ELCA Invests in Horizon Internships for 28 Seminarians

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 4, 2005

ELCA Invests in Horizon Internships for 28 Seminarians
05-212-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) helped arrange seminary internships in 28 churches and
other ministry settings from Seattle to Comodoro Rivadavia,
Argentina, this academic year.	The ELCA Horizon Internship
Program provided the necessary funding for the internships.
     A master of divinity is the minimum degree required of ELCA
clergy.  Earning the degree usually requires a bachelor's degree
and four years of seminary education, including a parish
internship during the third year.  Horizon interns complete that
third year of seminary education with rural, urban,
multicultural, mission development or international ministries.
     Twenty-four ELCA congregations or parishes across the United
States are participating in the Horizon Internship Program during
the 2005-2006 academic year:
 + Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington, D.C.
 + Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, Chicago
 + Followers of Christ Lutheran Church, Plainfield, Ill.
 + Grace Lutheran Church, Adel, Iowa
 + Redeemer Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
 + Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
 + Christ Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn.
 + Trinity of Manhattan Lutheran Church, New York
 + Atonement Lutheran Church, Syracuse, N.Y.
 + Church of the Abiding Savior, Durham, N.C.
 + Turtle River Ministry, Larimore, N.D.
 + Salem Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio
 + Redeemer Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore.
 + St. Peter Lutheran Church, Bethlehem, Pa.
 + Trinity Lutheran Church, McAlisterville, PA
 + Reformation Lutheran Church, Philadelphia
 + St. John Lutheran Church, Hot Springs, S.D.
 + Lutheran Lakota Shared Ministry, Pine Ridge, S.D.
 + Augustana Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, S.D.
 + Holsten-Heritage Conference/Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Morristown, Tenn.
 + Camino Real Christian Fellowship, San Antonio, Texas
 + Attoway-Kimberlin Parish, Rural Retreat, Va.
 + St. John United Lutheran Church, Seattle
 + Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Petersburg, W.Va.
     The Rev. Gregory J. Villalon, director for multicultural
leadership and recruitment, ELCA Vocation and Education, noted
that one-third of the supervisors at these internship sites are
women.	Half of the urban sites are in multicultural settings, he
said.
     ELCA Vocation and Education and ELCA Evangelical Outreach
and Congregational Mission review and approve Horizon internship
applications in consultation with a site selection team.  They
recruit and screen seminarians and congregations to match the
needs of each.
     Horizon internship sites in the United States and Caribbean
are approved for a two-year cycle, which may be renewed following
the second year with an updated application.  The site selection
team works closely with the church's 10,585 congregations through
65 synods, eight seminaries and ELCA Global Mission.
     Interns earn a stipend and may require housing, and that
could be a financial hardship for some congregations.  The
responsibility for funding a Horizon internship is normally
divided equally between the ministry site, the synod where it is
located and the ELCA units.
     Vocation and Education committed $100,000 and Evangelical
Outreach and Congregational Mission contributed $95,000 this year
to support the Horizon Internship Program.

Four Interns Placed in International Settings
     ELCA Global Mission placed interns at four international
sites:
 + Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina -- San Juan Bautista
 + Villa Ballester, Argentina -- Sacred Heart Sacrament Church
and Home for Women
 + Berlin, Germany -- American Church in Berlin
 + Mexico City, Mexico -- Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
     The Global Mission budget for the Horizon International
Internship program this year is $88,793, said Sonya Lindquist,
associate director for international personnel.  It pays the
intern's expenses for international travel to and from the site
and medical insurance.	Global Mission provides the intern's
stipend.
     ELCA Global Mission also provides for the interns'
participation in the division's orientation program for new
mission personnel just prior to the start of their service and a
re-entry program for interns in the fall after they have
completed their service.  Housing and utilities are provided by
the internship site with assistance from Global Mission.
     Global Mission selects the international sites and
interviews seminarians to match the students with the sites.
-- -- --
     ELCA Vocation and Education maintains information about the
Horizon Internship Program in English at
http://www.ELCA.org/liderazgo/english/horizon.html and in Spanish
at http://www.ELCA.org/liderazgo/spanish/horizon.html on the ELCA
Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news