Get the Practical Experience You Need

I recently heard a true story about a person who earned an online degree related to pastoral ministry and then was accepted as pastor of a church. The problem was that he didn't have the practical experience to combine with his head knowledge. Church ministry is so much more than just understanding the Bible, being a good musician or loving people. The sad fact is that he was eventually removed from church leadership because he simply wasn't ready. All that time and hard work only to find out he wasn't prepared.

Preparation for a career in ministry should be a combination of character, concepts and competence.

• Concepts - To minister God's word, we need to understand it well. To lead others in worship, we need to understand how music works and how it has been used by God to draw people closer to Him. Learning the concepts is essential to ministry preparation.
• Character - Knowing about God, though, is not the same as knowing God and allowing Him to change your life. We have all met people who knew a lot about the Bible but were not nice to be around. To be effective in ministry, you need to develop your heart for God as well as your knowledge about God.
• Competence - Knowledge needs to be combined with practice and experience before it actually produces fruit. It is of little benefit to the people you are ministering to if you received an "A" in Theology but you can't put it into words or music that will help them in their daily lives.

At Worship Arts Conservatory we believe that internships are the best way for you to get the practical experience you need. But we have taken it one step further.

We encourage our ministry and worship students to be in an internship for the whole time of their study. This allows you to have practical experience and develop your skills while you are taking your courses.

Our internships are also based around a core set of skills that we believe you need to develop to be effective in ministry. Each term you will consult with your faculty advisor and church leader to make a plan that allows you to develop and master these skills.