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Chicago (ELCA)-FI — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) helped arrange seminary internships in 28 churches and other ministry settings from Nome, Alaska, to New Amsterdam, Guyana, 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-three ELCA congregations across the United States are participating in the Horizon Internship Program during the 2003- 2004 academic year:
+ Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Nome, Alaska
+ Central City Lutheran Mission, San Bernardino, Calif.
+ Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Denver
+ Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington, D.C.
+ New Hope Lutheran Church, Shoshone, Idaho
+ Cristo Rey Lutheran Church, Chicago
+ Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church, Huntley, Ill.
+ First Lutheran Church, Cresco, Iowa
+ Good Samaritan Lutheran Church, Lexington Park, Md.
+ St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
+ Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
+ Bethany/St. John Lutheran Church, Jersey City, N.J.
+ Grace Chinese Lutheran Church, Elmhurst, N.Y.
+ Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, New York
+ House of Prayer, Syracuse, N.Y.
+ Salem Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio
+ Redeemer Lutheran Church, Portland, Ore.
+ St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bethlehem, Pa.
+ Reformation Lutheran Church, Philadelphia
+ St. Mark Lutheran Church, Philadelphia
+ Trinity Lutheran Church, Blanco, Texas
+ San Miguel Lutheran Church, Forth Worth, Texas
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 ELCA Division for Ministry and Division for Outreach 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.
The divisions and site selection team work closely with the church's 10,721 congregations through 65 synods, eight seminaries and the ELCA Division for 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 divisions.
The ELCA Division for Ministry committed $150,000 and the Division for Outreach contributed $95,000 this year to support the Horizon Internship Program.
The ELCA Division for Global Mission (DGM) placed interns at five international sites:
+ Buenos Aires, Argentina — Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Unida — which includes working with the Martin Luther Parish, the Office of Women and a program for street children.
+ Copenhagen, Denmark — International Church of Copenhagen, an ecumenical congregation with members of about 25 nationalities.
+ Berlin, Germany — the American Church in Berlin, an English-speaking congregation.
+ New Amsterdam, Guyana — Ebenezer Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Lutheran Church in Guyana.
+ Moscow, Russia — Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, an English- speaking congregation with members from nearly 30 different countries; almost two-thirds of its members are African.
The DGM budget for the Horizon International Internship program this year is $83,150. It pays the intern's expenses for international travel to and from the site and medical insurance. The division provides the intern's stipend.
DGM 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. The internship site provides housing and utilities.
DGM selects the international sites and interviews seminarians to match the students with the sites.