Summer 2023 Crossroad and Cole Internship Placements Announced
News
The Crossroads program provides opportunities for college-aged students to work, learn and provide leadership in a local church setting. These 10-week internships run from the end of May to the beginning of August. Students apply and go through an interview process with the Conference before being assigned to a local church to serve for the summer. Interns can work in one of two internship arrangements: With a church they already relate to, such as a home church or college church, or with a church they don’t relate to. Summer internship stipends and housing are supported by the local church in partnership with the Missouri Conference.
For summer 2023, the following interns will receive ministry experience at these Missouri United Methodist churches:
Cassidy Barger – Living Word UMC
Robby Criswell – NextGen Ministries, Missouri Annual Conference Office
Aaron Douglas – First UMC (Sedalia)
Madisyn Garrison – First UMC (Marshall)
Addison McCarty – The Downtown Church (Springfield)
Murray Page – First UMC (Sedalia)
Kaelyn Teague – First UMC (Sedalia)
Moses Yohanna – First UMC (Kirksville)
In the past, interns have served in areas such as children’s ministry, youth ministry, worship tech, communications and general ministry, including working with the pastor and shadowing them. During the summer, interns are surrounded by a team of three to five local church members for mentorship and support. Additionally, staff from the Conference Center for Leadership Excellence provide resources, learning opportunities and guided reflection throughout the summer session.
Additionally, Monique Jones will be serving Woods Chapel UMC in Kansas City as a Cole Seminary Intern. The Cole program is open to students in full-time seminary programs who have at least one semester remaining.
The program is funded by the Cole Endowment administered by the Missouri United Methodist Foundation. The endowment was created with a gift from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Cole. The Coles were devoted members of the Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in rural Jefferson County, Missouri. Active in church and community in many leadership roles, the Coles were great friends of many United Methodist pastors who served in the area. Their nurturing love for the church and its clergy lives on through their generosity and vision.
Interns begin their 10 weeks of service on May 28, 2023. Both internship programs will again open their applications for both host churches and interns in late fall 2023. Learn more at www.moumethodist.org/internships.
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The United Methodist Church in Missouri is made up of almost 650 local churches, approximately 1,000 retired and active clergy and more than 65,000 weekly worshippers. Learn more about the United Methodist Church in Missouri at www.moumethodist.org.