march update (typical week)
Howdy y'all…see, I haven't lost my southern accent yet. Well last month when I wrote, I gave you all a glimpse into the inner journey I'm on. I will continue to share what's happening in my soul as time goes on…but I figured many of you would like to hear some more practical things that I'm doing as a part of this internship/masters program. So I will try to give you broad picture of how I spend my time up here in Chicagoland.
So what exactly is it that I do?
I will walk you through a typical week, but before I do so, it'd probably help to have an idea of my role within the church and stuff. As most of you know, Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN) is nowhere near Willow Creek Community Church (S. Barrington, IL)…so I live in Hoffman Estates (really close to the church…like ½ a mile actually) and take my classes via the internet…however we, the interns, have to go to Bethel twice a year for two-week intensives, so I'll be heading up there in late April. I spend 25-30 hours a week involved in church ministry activities, 10-15 hours a week reading/studying/writing for school, and another 5 or so on personal development. I am considered 'staff' with Student Impact (aka simply 'Impact'), the high school ministry at Willow Creek, my primary responsibilities within impact are leading a "house group," helping develop and write curriculum for house groups, screening and interviewing potential volunteer leaders, and otherwise spending time in the lives of students, as you'll see. So below is what, for many of you, your financial support allows me to do.
OK, a typical week…
Sunday
There are two Impact services on Sunday AM (designed just for HS students) at 9 and 11:15. I show up at 8:30 and mingle and socialize with the students…I don't have responsibilities during these services, but before and after I'm meeting and greeting students and some parents as well; afterwards I have lunch with friends and/or students…the rest of the afternoon is spent relaxing; currently, I'm part of a volleyball league, so I play volleyball ever Sunday afternoon/evening
Monday
I usually spend the morning doing school work, 1-2 hours after lunch preparing for Tuesday's house group (HGs are explained below), and track practice in the afternoon (more on track below), then maybe some reading later in the evening.
Tuesday
I spend 4-6 hours in the office on Tuesdays to do administrative tasks (phone calls, emails, etc.), we have our 'community life' meeting every Tuesday (community life is a team within impact that oversees spiritual formation, house groups, campus groups, parent connect, etc. - as opposed to worship, programming, and operations), then I go to track practice, and then to house group for the night.
Wednesday
Wednesday seems to be the biggest meeting day, every other week I have a 1:1 with Scott, the internship director, for 1.5 hours; every week I have a 1:1 with my ministry supervisor, Todd; then we have our Impact staff meeting where everyone attends; once a month are 'all staff' meetings for the whole church staff; leader development opportunities are usually on Wednesdays; then on Wednesday night is New Community (dinner with friends afterwards…every week), the mid-week service at Willow Creek; oh yeah, I forgot to mention track practice.
Thursday
I show up and one of the local high schools at 7am for their morning campus group where students pray and study the Bible before school starts, this is 100% student led, I'm only their as support; the curriculum team meets for 2 hrs this morning to brainstorm and develop ideas for upcoming HG curriculums, then we delegate parts for each person to write; afterwards I begin writing my part of the curriculum; Impact staff gathers for weekly prayer in the afternoon; track practice; more reading and study for school in the evening.
Friday
My intern small group meets for 2.5 hours every Friday, we laugh together, cry together, play together, and fight together…and yes, we've done all of those…we know each others lives really really well; Friday afternoon is spent finalizing the week's school assignments and submitting them…before or after track practice that is; some Friday nights, me and some friends will head out for dinner or go downtown to hang out.
Saturday
This day is FREE…I do whatever I want…I'll browse book/music stores, sit and drink coffee and read, play guitar, ride my motorcycle, etc.; during track season, there are a few track meets on Saturday which take up most of the day. I'm usually hanging out with friends on Saturday evenings.
So that's my week…here's a little more information on a couple of the things mentioned above:
House Groups
House Groups are where HS students meet for medium/small group time, the HGs are geographically based, so students attend HGs with students they go to school with. HGs are a time for students to go deeper in study and explore in depth topics taught the previous Sunday during the program. There are a total of 10 house groups for all of Impact and I lead one of them. There are students from 2 different high schools that attend my HG, so it's slightly mixed. These nights involve food, hanging out, worship, teaching, and small group time. In addition to leading the HG at large, I also lead a small group of guys. We also hang-out quite a bit outside of HG. HG meets every Tuesday night. Here's a picture of some of the students from my HG at BLAST, our winter retreat…I'm not in it.
Coaching Track
If you're wondering about track practice…I'm helping coach boys track at one of the local high schools. We have practice for 2 hrs. every day of the week with the exception of meet days…so that adds a considerable amount of time to my week. It's a great way to be involved in the lives of students…and I've gotten into better shape as I do some of the workouts with the guys. There are two guys on the team who are also involved with Impact and house groups, so that's kinda cool. I work specifically with sprinters (100m, 200m, and 400m, and relays), hurdlers, and high-jumpers. It's been a lot of fun and a great time investment.
Student Impact
As mentioned above, Impact is the ministry for high school students at Willow. I'm part of a great team of people and they're not just co-workers…we are all good friends and it's some of the people on staff that I actually hang out with the most and have become some of my closest friends. We all love high school students and try to spend the best hours of our day trying to serve them in some way. It has been a lot of fun to be part of this staff team. Here's a picture of the Impact staff during a recent staff retreat (I'm in the middle).
Interns
I can't go without mentioning my fellow interns. There are eight 3-yr. interns (including me) that started with me in June 2005. This is my small group I meet with on Fridays. We all serve in different areas of the church, although there is one other that serves in Impact with me. Here's a pic (includes the internship director and one 2nd-yr. intern).
In closing…
Well, that's a lot so I should wrap things up. A new quarter of school starts Monday (4/3) and I'll be studying The Gospels and Ministry Foundations. Please feel free to forward this email to family or friends who you think would be interested in knowing what's going with me in Chicago…also, if you didn’t receive last month’s update, let me know and I’ll send it to you.
Prayer Requests:
-new quarter of school and upcoming intensives
-financial support raising
-my house group leadership
-my role as a track coach
-upcoming “sex” series in House Groups
Praises:
-great living situation
-another quarter of school under my belt
-connections between ministry and coaching track
-mom and my brother John both got to visit me in the last month and a half!!!
Alright…that's it…I'll write again before I leave for intensives at the end of April
Much love, blessings, and peace!!!
-jeremiah
So what exactly is it that I do?
I will walk you through a typical week, but before I do so, it'd probably help to have an idea of my role within the church and stuff. As most of you know, Bethel Seminary (St. Paul, MN) is nowhere near Willow Creek Community Church (S. Barrington, IL)…so I live in Hoffman Estates (really close to the church…like ½ a mile actually) and take my classes via the internet…however we, the interns, have to go to Bethel twice a year for two-week intensives, so I'll be heading up there in late April. I spend 25-30 hours a week involved in church ministry activities, 10-15 hours a week reading/studying/writing for school, and another 5 or so on personal development. I am considered 'staff' with Student Impact (aka simply 'Impact'), the high school ministry at Willow Creek, my primary responsibilities within impact are leading a "house group," helping develop and write curriculum for house groups, screening and interviewing potential volunteer leaders, and otherwise spending time in the lives of students, as you'll see. So below is what, for many of you, your financial support allows me to do.
OK, a typical week…
Sunday
There are two Impact services on Sunday AM (designed just for HS students) at 9 and 11:15. I show up at 8:30 and mingle and socialize with the students…I don't have responsibilities during these services, but before and after I'm meeting and greeting students and some parents as well; afterwards I have lunch with friends and/or students…the rest of the afternoon is spent relaxing; currently, I'm part of a volleyball league, so I play volleyball ever Sunday afternoon/evening
Monday
I usually spend the morning doing school work, 1-2 hours after lunch preparing for Tuesday's house group (HGs are explained below), and track practice in the afternoon (more on track below), then maybe some reading later in the evening.
Tuesday
I spend 4-6 hours in the office on Tuesdays to do administrative tasks (phone calls, emails, etc.), we have our 'community life' meeting every Tuesday (community life is a team within impact that oversees spiritual formation, house groups, campus groups, parent connect, etc. - as opposed to worship, programming, and operations), then I go to track practice, and then to house group for the night.
Wednesday
Wednesday seems to be the biggest meeting day, every other week I have a 1:1 with Scott, the internship director, for 1.5 hours; every week I have a 1:1 with my ministry supervisor, Todd; then we have our Impact staff meeting where everyone attends; once a month are 'all staff' meetings for the whole church staff; leader development opportunities are usually on Wednesdays; then on Wednesday night is New Community (dinner with friends afterwards…every week), the mid-week service at Willow Creek; oh yeah, I forgot to mention track practice.
Thursday
I show up and one of the local high schools at 7am for their morning campus group where students pray and study the Bible before school starts, this is 100% student led, I'm only their as support; the curriculum team meets for 2 hrs this morning to brainstorm and develop ideas for upcoming HG curriculums, then we delegate parts for each person to write; afterwards I begin writing my part of the curriculum; Impact staff gathers for weekly prayer in the afternoon; track practice; more reading and study for school in the evening.
Friday
My intern small group meets for 2.5 hours every Friday, we laugh together, cry together, play together, and fight together…and yes, we've done all of those…we know each others lives really really well; Friday afternoon is spent finalizing the week's school assignments and submitting them…before or after track practice that is; some Friday nights, me and some friends will head out for dinner or go downtown to hang out.
Saturday
This day is FREE…I do whatever I want…I'll browse book/music stores, sit and drink coffee and read, play guitar, ride my motorcycle, etc.; during track season, there are a few track meets on Saturday which take up most of the day. I'm usually hanging out with friends on Saturday evenings.
So that's my week…here's a little more information on a couple of the things mentioned above:
House Groups
House Groups are where HS students meet for medium/small group time, the HGs are geographically based, so students attend HGs with students they go to school with. HGs are a time for students to go deeper in study and explore in depth topics taught the previous Sunday during the program. There are a total of 10 house groups for all of Impact and I lead one of them. There are students from 2 different high schools that attend my HG, so it's slightly mixed. These nights involve food, hanging out, worship, teaching, and small group time. In addition to leading the HG at large, I also lead a small group of guys. We also hang-out quite a bit outside of HG. HG meets every Tuesday night. Here's a picture of some of the students from my HG at BLAST, our winter retreat…I'm not in it.
Coaching Track
If you're wondering about track practice…I'm helping coach boys track at one of the local high schools. We have practice for 2 hrs. every day of the week with the exception of meet days…so that adds a considerable amount of time to my week. It's a great way to be involved in the lives of students…and I've gotten into better shape as I do some of the workouts with the guys. There are two guys on the team who are also involved with Impact and house groups, so that's kinda cool. I work specifically with sprinters (100m, 200m, and 400m, and relays), hurdlers, and high-jumpers. It's been a lot of fun and a great time investment.
Student Impact
As mentioned above, Impact is the ministry for high school students at Willow. I'm part of a great team of people and they're not just co-workers…we are all good friends and it's some of the people on staff that I actually hang out with the most and have become some of my closest friends. We all love high school students and try to spend the best hours of our day trying to serve them in some way. It has been a lot of fun to be part of this staff team. Here's a picture of the Impact staff during a recent staff retreat (I'm in the middle).
Interns
I can't go without mentioning my fellow interns. There are eight 3-yr. interns (including me) that started with me in June 2005. This is my small group I meet with on Fridays. We all serve in different areas of the church, although there is one other that serves in Impact with me. Here's a pic (includes the internship director and one 2nd-yr. intern).
In closing…
Well, that's a lot so I should wrap things up. A new quarter of school starts Monday (4/3) and I'll be studying The Gospels and Ministry Foundations. Please feel free to forward this email to family or friends who you think would be interested in knowing what's going with me in Chicago…also, if you didn’t receive last month’s update, let me know and I’ll send it to you.
Prayer Requests:
-new quarter of school and upcoming intensives
-financial support raising
-my house group leadership
-my role as a track coach
-upcoming “sex” series in House Groups
Praises:
-great living situation
-another quarter of school under my belt
-connections between ministry and coaching track
-mom and my brother John both got to visit me in the last month and a half!!!
Alright…that's it…I'll write again before I leave for intensives at the end of April
Much love, blessings, and peace!!!
-jeremiah
posted by jeremiah at
6:12 PM
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