An Internship with a Difference
Matt Waldock, formerly a ministry trainee and now a church planter and pastor, shares how City Church Manchester has crafted a particular form of ministry traineeship for these economic times. A lot has changed since I was a ministry trainee in 2004. When I graduated from Lancaster University, the concept of ministry trainees was an […]
God Isn’t finished With You Yet
Graham Fairbairn shares his story. For many Christians, the desire to investigate full-time gospel service is probably most strongly felt in their teens, twenties and early thirties. This is a time in life when anything seems possible and a more settled period of life with weighty family, work and financial responsibilities has not arrived yet. […]
Why We Should Train Women for Ministry
Someone told me: “There’s really no point in training women for ministry – they just leave when they get married and have babies.” “There’s really no point in training women for ministry – they just leave when they get married and have babies.” I really heard this… from a woman… at a 9:38 conference. I think I […]
How Ministry Trainees can be a help and a hindrance
At a prayer meeting I recently had the privilege of joining, we flicked through a passage from 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul here is reflecting on his short, but rich time with the people of Thessalonica (cheeky picture below if you can’t visualise it). He spent just four weeks with this group, and as a result […]
A challenge to those retiring
This blog post has been very kindly offered by David Howell, who decided retirement was the time for taking up new challenges… Aged 62, having retired from school teaching two years previously, I was reluctant to mothball the gifts God had kindly given me. At the suggestion of the Senior Minister, I joined my church […]
The Smaller Church Option
SMALL CHURCH = NO CHANCE I first looked at the 9:38 website seven years ago. I saw smaller churches, in smaller towns with MT openings and I moved on past them. I settled upon applying to Christ Church in Cambridge. Fast forward seven years, two spent in Cambridge, four working with UCCF in Manchester and […]
Make The Most Of Being A Ministry Trainee
‘What on earth have I let myself in for?’ If you’ve just started a new role as a ministry trainee, you may have found yourself asking that question a bit more than usual! It’s many years since I was in that position, but we have 10 associates (apprentices / MTs) with us on staff at […]
Setting up a Training Programme
For over twenty years now, 9:38 has been engaged in encouraging Christian men and women to consider devoting themselves to full-time gospel ministry. And a key component of this has been to promote ‘Ministry Trainee Schemes’ – One or two year opportunities to be trained in a real church ministry environment. There are now many […]
Developing a Training Church
Most people reading this will be familiar with the model of ministry Paul gives us in Ephesians 4. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ […]
Trainee to Maths Teacher
When I left university, I was considering whether or not full-time, paid gospel ministry was for me. So, partly in order to answer that question, I spent two years as a Ministry Trainee at St John’s, Lindow, in Wilmslow, Cheshire. My role mostly involved Bible teaching (sermons, Bible studies, youth groups and one-to-ones etc.), which […]
Looking Back With Gratitude: life as a ministry trainee
I spent two years working as a Ministry Associate at St Nicholas’ Church, Sevenoaks. As I look back I can already see the many ways in which God used the role to motivate, equip and strengthen me in my Christian faith, and draw me closer to himself. I’m really grateful to Him for the opportunity […]
Starting Well
Fresh from two years as a ministry trainee at St Mary’s Maidenhead, Tim writes… “I’m basically like a church celebrity. Everyone knows me. I don’t have a clue who anyone is. Those I know, I can’t remember their names. Is this really why I’m here? I don’t know how much I like this.” That was […]
