Interns

Good-byes are really not my thing.Whether ending a backpacking trip, a year-long internship, or even just an airplane ride sitting next to a stranger, when it comes to good-byes, it doesn′t get much worse than me. Some people turn into a crying mess, some write lengthy and meaningful letters, while others just escape out the back door. I, however, just stand there like a robot: no tears, no beautiful words, no honoring the past while stepping forward into a new horizon... just pure robotic awkwardness. Instead of sharing in a good cry or letting someone know their importance in my life, I stand there wondering what to do with my face. Should I smile or should I try to get some tears to come out? I know, not good...This aversion to good-byes has not served me well recently. In the past three years alone, I have had to say good-bye to...

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." -2 Corinthians 5:17-18The verdict should have been enough to call the whole thing off for this young seminary student. After two years of hopeless rhetoric surrounding the future of the church, an email sat in my inbox sentencing me to one year in the Pacific Northwest—the religious wasteland of the United States! For decades, Oregon and Washington have been setting the trend for the rest of the country as less and less people head to church on Sunday mornings or even identify themselves as Christian. Now the rest of the country is catching up and it's leaving our seminaries wondering, "What is God up to in our churches?" It's also...

by Pastoral Intern Joseph Natwick"Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the friends, even though they are strangers to you." – 3 John 5Dad and I don't mess around when it comes to travelling. Much to the chagrin of other members of our family, who prefer that road trips include taking in the beautiful sites and landscapes of America, my father and I are all about the destination. Breaks are optional, lunch is on the go, and rest is taken in short snippets in the passenger seat. Not really the "scenic option." Well, dad and I had the pleasure of driving from Fargo, ND to Vancouver, WA just last month to meet the people of Messiah who I would be called to serve for the next year. We were making great time. That is until we got stuck on I-84 behind an incident involving the tragic shooting of a police...