What's a Protege?

The Protege Program at National Community Church is a year-long internship/fellowship, geared toward preparing you for full-time ministry in the church or in the context of business-as-mission.

What does this have to do with you and me?

For me, the Protege Program was a step into full-time ministry after a short career on Capitol Hill. Almost four years ago I started my Protege year, working with Pastor Heather Zempel on the Discipleship Team, and last year I became a Department Mentor for Andy Backus, one of this year's Discipleship Proteges.

For you, the Protege Program is an opportunity to get hands-on, practical ministry experience. You'll do real ministry work. This isn't just about folding bulletins or stuffing envelopes (although you'll do those things too).

I'm not sure I can quickly sum up what I did as a Protege, but a few of the experiences included: creating humorous videos; serving as a Campus Pastor; producing our small group catalog; preaching at our Alpha course; leading a small group; writing, designing, and editing a "newspaper" for our leadership retreat; and a thousand other things.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Oh, and it's not paid. You'll have to raise support or work a second job to provide for your living expenses while you're here, so you're not in it for the money.

Why NCC?

More than anything else, you should consider coming to NCC because God is at work here. He has by His grace chosen to work in and through us. I don't know how else to say it, but God is doing something big among us. We're trying to seek His face, steward what He's given us, and hold on for the ride of our lives.

Look, I won't pull any punches. Things aren't perfect here. We have personality conflicts, disagreements, sin problems, communication problems, and all sorts of other issues. You'll find yourself variously exhilarated, exhausted, fulfilled, and frustrated.

Working at NCC is a blessing and a privilege, but it isn't perfect. Then again, if you think there's a perfect church out there, I've got some real estate on Mars to sell you.

To continue our candid conversation, some people see NCC as a "hip" or "cutting-edge" church, and there's a certain appeal to working at a place like that. Two years ago that's probably how I would have pitched NCC to you. But that perspective almost always stems from pride and desire for recognition, both yours and ours. So come here because God is moving. Come here because you're called here. Come here because you think you can learn here. Come here to help advance the Kingdom. But don't come because of a "cool" factor.

What can I do at NCC?

I'd love to have you come work with us on the Discipleship Team, but don't let me scare you off. There are a bunch of other great departments you could be a part of including Production, Campus Pastors, Ebenezers Coffeehouse, Student/Children's Ministry, Worship, Missions, Outreach, Media, Business/Finance and probably something we've never thought of!

What's my next step?

There are details on the program at http://theaterchurch.com/about/protege. The Protege year runs from September 2012-August 2013, and the deadline to apply is May 25.  (Here's the application.)

I'm always happy to talk more about NCC's Protege Program. Just drop a comment here, and I'll follow up with you either via comment or email.

When God called Moses, He demonstrated His power by turning Moses’ staff into a snake.

Throughout Exodus we read about the many miracles that God performed and Moses took part in, often using his shepherd’s staff.  The staff was used to bring the plagues on Egypt, part the sea, bring victory in battle, and provide water in the desert.  In Exodus 17 Moses calls it the staff of God.

But it didn’t start out as the staff of God.

It was just a staff,
that Moses used to herd sheep.
It wasn’t special.
It wasn’t miraculous.
It was just what he had in his hand.

God didn’t need the staff, or even Moses for that matter, but He invites us to be a part of the work that He is doing, sometimes just asking the question

What do you have in your hand?

The teaching and the question aren’t my own; Dr. Dick Foth preached them on Sunday at National Community Church on Sunday to kick off a capital campaign.  It wasn’t your typical capital campaign sermon, but this isn’t your typical capital campaign.  It’s truly an opportunity to be a part of a miracle.

And as he spoke, what was in my hand hit me like a ton of bricks.

I have a few hundred dollars in cash and uncashed checks.

I almost literally had $616 in my hand.

How can you be a part of what God is doing?

What do you have in your hand?

I read Jeremiah 23-29 today,¹ and the theme that stuck out to me was the contrast between good prophets/shepherds/priests and bad prophets/shepherds/priests.

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. -Jeremiah 23:1-4

Here we read a stern warning against those who are supposed to care for God’s people but fail to do so, and other passages from these chapters contrast Jeremiah, the true prophet of God with a false prophet who tells people what their itching ears want to hear.

These words serve as a reminder of the serious responsibility that those in ministry, vocational and volunteer, have. It doesn’t matter if you’re a megachurch pastor or the leader of a three person small group, I believe these words are for you.

So how do we avoid leading God’s people astray? There are obviously many things we could mention, but I think one of the most important is humility.

Humility means that we know our goal is to glorify God and not self, to decrease that He might increase. It means that we do God’s will even if it’s unpopular because we care what God thinks, not what others think, that we place his glory ahead of our own self-interest.

Humility recognizes that we don’t have all the answers, that we must turn to God and wise counsel.

Humility is open to correction.

Without humility, I don’t know how we will serve God or others well.

¹For those of you who attend NCC and are following the Bible reading plan, yes, I’m a few days behind.

Today I start my new job as a Protege (intern) at NCC. Definitely looking forward to it. Got a chance to meet a couple of my fellow Proteges over the last few days, they seem like cool people. Gotta run now, don’t want to be late on my first day at work, more details later.