Church Planting Internship

We are offering an internship for godly, Christian men who are interested in church planting and pastoral ministry. The program is focused on developing future pastors and church planters in 7 specific areas, each with assigned readings and practical experiences to participate in and lead. This is part of our desire to saturate the city of Austin (and beyond) with the gospel by multiplying disciples and planting churches. Here are the specific areas of development we will focus on over the course of the 1-year program. 

1. SPIRITUAL LIFE

   • Reading: Praying the Bible, Whitney; Counterfeit Gods, Keller
   • Practical: Daily reading plan through the ESV New Testament Devotional Bible 

2. DISCIPLESHIP

   • Reading: Discipling, Dever 
   • Practical: Participate in intense 1-on-1 and group discipleship, both being discipled and making disciples

3. EVANGELISM

   • Reading: Gospel Fluency, Vandersteldt; Our Secular Age, Collin Hansen
   • Practical: Engagement in relational evangelism in East Austin, especially at Mission Possible and around 12th and Chicon

4. THEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

   • Reading: The Whole Story of the Bible in 16 Words, Bruno; What is Biblical Theology?, Hamilton; 5 Points, Piper 
   • Practical: Choose a culturally relevant topic of your choice and write a 3,000 word paper on how this topic is addressed in the Bible, how it relates to the gospel, and how it can be winsomely addressed in the church today

5. PREACHING DEVELOPMENT

   • Reading: Expositional Preaching, Helm; Preaching, Keller
   • Practical: Assist Lead Pastor in weekly sermon prep and preaching practice, and preach at least 1 Sunday at Eastside Community Church and 2 Sundays at Church Under the Bridge 

6. LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE

   • Reading: Word-Centered Church, Leeman; Ministries of Mercy, Keller; You Are What You Love, Smith
   • Practical: Shadow multiple ministry leaders on Sunday as well as starting and leading a Community Group during the week

7. CHURCH PLANTING TRAINING

   • Reading: Planting Missional Churches, Stetzer 
   • Practical: Experience participating in a new urban church plant, along with monthly meetings with other church plant pastors for focused training 

OUTCOMES

Our desire is that our intern will grow to love the Lord more deeply, experiencing an enriched spiritual vitality and developing a stronger spiritual maturity through this program. Through the readings, practical experiences, and intentional discipleship and development, we desire to equip our intern for the work of ministry, and teach him to equip and disciple others as well, specifically in the context of pastoral ministry and church planting. Upon completion of this internship, the intern will also have: 

• Read through the entire New Testament once
• Read 14 books directed toward pastoral, theological, and leadership development
• Participated in and helped lead weekly staff meetings
• Participated in 12 church plant training meetings with other church plant pastors
• Preached at least 3 times in both church/worship and evangelistic/outreach contexts 
• Practiced sharing the gospel in a variety of ways with a significant number of people in a diverse context 
• Acquired practical ministry leadership experience in a variety of contexts inside and outside the church 
• Acquired experience starting and sustaining a Community Group made up of diverse disciple-making disciples 
• Produced a graduate level paper on engaging cultural issues with the Bible and the gospel 

At the conclusion of this program, a recommendation for our intern will be made by Eastside Community Church for specific next steps regarding pastoral ministry and church planting. 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY