Choosing the Right Church Residency for You: Three Steps to Your First Step into Ministry (Part 2)
In part one of this three part series, we explored why a church residency might be the wisest first step into ministry—because it uniquely weaves together hands-on experience, intentional development, and meaningful theological education. But once you’re convinced that a residency deserves serious consideration, the next challenge is understanding what these programs should actually look like day to day. Not all residencies are built the same. To discern whether a particular program will prepare you for healthy, sustainable ministry, you need to set the right expectations—both for what a residency should offer and what it can’t. This post will help you shift from asking why a residency to asking how a residency will shape you.
Step 2: Set Appropriate Expectations
In your consideration of church residencies, consider this: every residency worth their salt promises three general things: experience, development, and training. Now that you know what to expect from all residencies, you can better differentiate between a program that is going to meet your needs and one that isn’t. Your job as you engage with different programs and application processes is not to figure out the “what” of a residency, but to figure out the “how.” How does a residency facilitate a meaningful experience, how are residents actually developed, and how is training made tangible? If you can change your thinking from “what” a residency offers to “how” you will be trained and developed, you’ll be on track to discerning which program might be the best next step for you. Above all, a church residency should have a strategy that drives their preparation of young leaders, much like any effective organization would. Here are a few thoughts to help with your expectation setting.
What to Expect from a Church Residency:
Expect to be challenged. You can expect specific challenges spiritually, professionally, academically, and personally. Some of those challenges should be baked into the program (assignments, responsibilities, milestones, etc.), and others will be unique to your experience as you walk through a season of ministry. In this initial season of your career, you are doing work that’s like digging a well. You will dig deep over many months in all areas of your life. It will be messy. Sweaty. Monotonous. Seemingly futile. Nobody will notice your work (you’ll lament about this). Then one day, you will draw clear water from the muddy ground. That clear water comes from a heart that’s humble, a mind that’s filled with truth and grace, and hands that are calloused from engaging in real life struggles with others. That clear water, from the well of your experience and given by God, is what you will draw on as you lead others in the local church. It doesn’t come without challenge.
Expect compensation for your work. A credible program and church should have a clear plan for your job description, hours, and pay. Operating with integrity means being clear about the lines between personal and professional life and the time you give to each as you begin your career. If these lines are blurred, it can lead to resentment and unhealth, as well as burnout. There are many different ways that churches can set residents up for success, but you should ask to clearly understand how the time and responsibilities are structured.
Expect community. Accountability, confession, and prayer in the context of community are essential as you wrestle with the weight of leading yourself and others in a preparation season like a residency. You should expect to be partnered with a group of peers and a seasoned leader who plan to walk with you, pray with you, and learn with you as God does what only he can do in your life and heart. There should be a structured content component to this group that allows you to study your spiritual formation and develop language around your unique story.
Expect feedback: There should be times of you carrying meaningful responsibility followed by planned times of feedback and reflection from a leader who has the expertise to help you grow. That way your growth becomes visible, and new goals emerge. In the absence of strategic development, young leaders can wither and burn out as they flounder in the uncertainty of unestablished goals and direction.
What NOT To Expect from a Church Residency:
As you develop your list of expectations and nonnegotiables, there are also a few expectations that you should keep in check.
The expectation that you will “arrive” in your knowledge: While biblical and theological education is an important part of preparing for ministry, it can’t live in isolation as the way to fully equip you to live a healthy life as a leader. In Dangerous Calling, Paul David Tripp says that, “For students who have not been required to confess that it is easier to learn theology than to live it, it is tempting to think maturity is more a matter of knowing than a matter of living. They think that godliness is more a matter of what you intellectually grasp than a matter of how you live your life.” Pairing your theological training with on-the-ground ministry that puts you in frequent contact with people to serve and holds you accountable helps you avoid this trap during a residency program.
The expectation for someone to grow or develop you: The bottom line is that your health and your growth are your responsibility. Many young leaders find themselves in a new world of personal responsibility where they are tempted to look around for the person who is going to rescue them from problems or give them a playbook on how to be a healthy leader. The reality is that you will be the one in charge of yourself. You will determine how much you grow by how you spend your time, how you posture your heart, and how closely you walk with God. The sooner you learn that you are your responsibility, the faster you will develop into the kind of Jesus follower and leader you want to be. If you crave mentorship, ask for it. If you need accountability, set it up. If you would benefit from counseling, seek it out. This initiative will serve you well for the rest of your life and career.
The expectation that you will be known. There’s a lot of cultural buzz about being “known”—for good reason. At our core each of us desires to be known by others and by the God who loves us. God made us to be known. However, this desire can lead to a dangerous thirst for attention that drives us to strive and reach for the microphone, the stage, and the seat at the table where we imagine our ideas and thoughts will emerge as the most talented, brilliant, and worthy of public applause. To get a better idea of how Jesus tackled this issue with his followers, check out Matthew 20:20–28. If God wants you to be noticed, or for your ideas to surface, or for you to preach in front of thousands, let him bring that to pass in his own time. In the meantime, be ready to stand at the back of the line and serve those who are living without hope.