A while ago I promised to write about my daily job responsibilities as a youth intern. As should be apparent from my lack of activity here, I’ve been quite busy after taking on the new position. I often joke that my job is one step above indentured servitude. I pretty much follow Pastor Chad around and do whatever he tells me to do.
Here’s a run-down of my typical week:
Sunday
Since Sunday is our first day back from the weekend and the day we tend to do the most work, it feels more like the Monday of a typical work week.
I still fulfill my usual responsibility playing drumset during the two morning worship services. In between the services, during the Sunday School hour, the youth meet for a worship service called Community. We sing a few worship songs, Chad preaches a 20-25 minute message, and the youth are split into small groups for further discussion. During Community, I usually help with sound and lights. I’ve also been helping Chad make announcements at the beginning of service.
If there is an evening service — and these are generally sparse during the summer months — the youth typically have an activity afterward called Blast. It’s usually an informal gathering in someone’s home with refreshments and very little if any planned activity.
Monday
I’ve had a surprising number of Mondays off this summer. I keep telling Chad if I get one more Monday off I’m coming into work anyway — I have trouble getting all my work done.
Mondays are usually a wind-down day from Sunday. We’ll typically spend some of the morning tidying up the meeting room where Community is held. Generally we try to spend the day with some of the youth. On occasion we may take two or three youth down the street to Starbucks or Pier 49 Pizza. We bring along a discussion-starter book and spend the time casually talking about our faith and sharing prayer requests.
I’ll usually spend the rest of the day completing various assigned tasks. Last Monday I processed applications from youth who’ll be attending our upcoming youth retreat. I’ve been teaching a class on Thursday nights during our summer Bible study, so if I have any extra time on Mondays I like to start preparing my lesson early.
Tuesday
In our summer Bible study we’ve been focusing on service. Because of that emphasis, we also do a service project every Tuesday morning. From 9:00am to noon we take 15-25 youth to the Baptist Concern Center and help them receive their weekly food shipment and organize it in crates for storage. We usually take the group somewhere for lunch afterward or have pizza delivered to the church.
Tuesday afternoons we have staff meeting with all the pastors and the office manager. We talk about what went well the previous Sunday and we put together the program for the upcoming Sunday. We also take time to pray over requests that have been submitted by church members and visitors.
Because of the service project and staff meeting, there’s generally no time on Tuesdays to get anything else done. That’s one reason why it’s so hard to miss a Monday.
Wednesday
Wednesday is usually when I dig into preparation for my Thursday night summer study lesson. Again, we might spend part of our day with a few of the youth at Starbucks or Pier 49.
Sometimes I’ll be asked in staff meeting to help find visuals for Pastor Mike (the senior pastor) or Pastor Chad for use in upcoming sermons. Earlier this month Pastor Mike did a two-week series on missions for which I spent most of my Wednesday downloading several 5 minute documentary videos from the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board websites.
Thursday
We usually take a half day on Thursdays because of summer Bible study in the evening. I normally spend the morning finishing up my lesson and completing last minute tasks pertaining to the upcoming Sunday.
Thursday at 4:30pm Chad gets together with the seniors to teach them the summer study lesson. The seniors have been helping Chad teach the 7th and 8th graders during the usual 7:00pm study time. While Chad is with the seniors, I’ll sometimes arrange a meeting with the web team to discuss the new website we’re building.
At 7:00pm, the rest of the youth arrive and we usually play a game (e.g. tug-of-war or dodge ball) before splitting into study groups. There are usually refreshments provided, and the study time ends at 8:30pm.
Wrapping up the week
Friday and Saturday are my days off, and that’s about it for my usual week. I hope this gives a good picture of the kinds of things I do from day to day. Each week really is different, depending on whatever subject we’re focusing on the next week and any mid-week activities such as youth retreats or Vacation Bible School.
The internship will be over on August 12, so I’ll probably start back at [ContentWatch] on August 15.