How Is an Intern Different from a Staff Member?

by Pastor Evan Clendenin

Carla Spaccarotelli and Good Shepherd have the gift of sharing in a special learning environment through May 2022. 

Carla is a seminary intern among us. Staff—lay and ordained, paid and unpaid—exercise their ministry under definite expectations of role and direction in an environment of work and more clearly discerned efforts in ministry activity.

But for Carla as an intern, Good Shepherd is primarily a learning environment. The congregation provides the place for listening deeply, trying new things and initiatives, exploring senses of calling, learning from experiences in serving God with God’s people.

Here are a few ‘nots’ for Good Shepherd folks and staff to remember: 

An intern is not the person who does all the back-burner tasks. An intern is not free (or cheap) help.  An intern is not someone to minimize or discount. 

Instead, we might ask questions that invite her and us to hear the Gospel invitations for life now: 

How am I sharing appreciation and encouragement with Carla? Appropriately helping her with her work and learning and discernment? Praying for her? Open to her gifts, presence and what we can learn from and with her? Asking her how her internship and seminary preparation are going? Things she’s energized about in church and ministry?

In these 9 months, you can help Good Shepherd be a good learning environment for Carla, as well as for others.