Richardson church touches world with internship_122203

Posted: 12/19/03

Richardson church touches world with internships

By Marv Knox

Editor

RICHARDSON–Someday, a parents' night out ministry in Texas may touch families in Britain. And a class for Spanish-speaking immigrants in Richardson may lead Pakistanis to Christ in Birmingham, England.

The link in such a global chain of events is First Baptist Church of Richardson's British internship program.

Each July, a young couple, fresh out of seminary, arrive in North Texas. They spend the next six months serving on the staff and observing the ministries of the Richardson congregation.

Kerrion and Bill Miller, British interns at first Baptist Church of Richardson, talk with Candy Smith, asssociate pastor for ministry, and Pastor Brian Harbour.

And when they go back home to British Baptist churches, they carry more than Texas souvenirs. They return with a supply of ideas for sharing the gospel with people where they live.

That's how it has worked for Bill and Kerrion Miller, the fifth British internship couple, who have watched, learned and ministered at First Baptist in Richardson since the middle of last summer.

The Millers have been creating “video memories” of ministries conducted by the progressive Texas Baptist church, he reported.

They want to learn a variety of ways to share the gospel and meet people's needs in Jesus' name. Later, they'll test many of them in West Bromwich Baptist Church, a multi-national inner-city congregation located in the “urban sprawl” of Birmingham, one of England's largest cities, where he will become pastor Jan. 31.

The Richardson church developed its British internship through a partnership with Blenheim Baptist Church in Leeds, England, explained Brian Harbour, First Baptist's pastor.

The concept fit nicely with the church's desire to be a “teaching church,” a congregation that provides internships for young ministers, Harbour said. By the time the British internship got started, First Baptist already had launched an intern program for students at Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, as well as a youth ministry internship.

“This program is now a major player in the overall direction of our church to be an Acts 1:8 model church,” added Candy Smith, the church's associate pastor for ministry. Acts 1:8 in the New Testament records Jesus' command to spread the gospel “to the ends of the earth.”

“Part of our dream is to be able to touch the world,” Smith said. “So, to be able to have a couple or individuals come over and get training, and for our relationship to continue, we get to be a little part of the plan of what God is doing to influence that whole country.”

For First Baptist's part of the plan to work, church members Jerry and Margaret Redmon traveled to Britain and convinced the principals at the Baptist colleges–which provide the equivalent of a U.S. seminary education–to participate in the program and promote it on their campuses.

For Redmon, the internship program was an opportunity to exercise stewardship and build bridges.

“Our staff is a very talented teaching staff. We like to see them have an opportunity to train youngsters,” he said, noting the British Baptist principals liked the idea of sending some of their “best and brightest” students to learn from talented ministers.

Also, the church already had committed to build bridges with Christians in other parts of the world, he added, explaining the opportunity to train young ministers with whom they could maintain relationships was a way to make certain the traffic on those bridges would “go both ways.”

The first intern couple, Andy and Jo Caldwell, had a positive experience. Their advocacy “gave peace of mind to others,” said Harbour, who praised the Caldwells' courage for trying out an untested program.

Since then, counting the Millers, four couples and one single male have participated in the internship. They arrived in July, lived with church members for six months, acclimated themselves to Texas and learned from, as well as ministered to, an active Baptist church.

“We have given them full rein as far as where they want to be involved and where their gifts and interests are,” Smith said. “So, every intern has had a different involvement and impact on our church. Not only do they observe, but they have been very involved in hands-on ministry.”

This year, in addition to other ministries, Bill Miller has been involved in the church's English-as-a-Second-Language program, and Kerrion Miller has focused on preschool ministry.

The Millers put their “permanent” ministry on hold for six months to come to Richardson in order to participate in and learn from a kind of church they probably never will experience again.

“Why not get exposure to a whole range of ministries?” he asked. “We've been getting to know lots of different kinds of programs.”

That contrasts with West Bromwich Baptist Church, which is much smaller, as well as their sense of calling to serve small, inner-city churches for the rest of their lives.

“I'm really looking forward to getting back and getting involved,” he stressed. “But it's easier to do this now–to just get a different view on ministry–than it would be later.”

“Like after we start a family,” she added.

Although First Baptist in Richardson is many times larger than West Bromwich Baptist, and Texas culture is distinctly different from British society, the Millers said they expect to transfer much of what they have learned this year to their new ministry back home.

“There are programs we can see being implemented on a much smaller scale,” she said. “The church we're going to is multi-cultural, with seven or more nationalities, so we might try to do English-as-a-Second-Language.

“Child care is different, but we learned some lessons,” she added, noting First Baptist's parents' night out–which provides childcare so moms and dads can have an evening together without children–would work well at West Bromwich.

A few weeks ago, at a missions banquet, Miller absorbed a new way of promoting a cause that's central to Christian faith.

“I was thinking, we will do it on a shoestring budget in a very different way,” he said. “It probably would start as a bring-and-share meal, but the same principles apply: What a useful thing, to have an annual event that puts global missions on the agenda and keeps it there.”

They've also pondered Sunday School, which in Britain primarily is offered for children. Miller has tried to imagine how he might incorporate some of those training opportunities so adults can learn more about the Bible and grow in their faith.

Through six months of work and learning, the Millers have created images–quite literally–of ministries they may implement someday. They have taken digital photos of practically everything they've done, so the pictures will prompt their memory when they return to Britain.

But beyond studying programs and learning methods, a key to the internship is relationships, he noted.

“I've said to the ministers: 'You might well get an e-mail from me someday. I don't know what the question might be, but you will hear from me.'”

Those relationships have been strong and significant, she added. “We've said over and over again that we've been overwhelmed by the welcome of the Texans.”

In addition to involving them in ministries and church functions, First Baptist friends have fed them meals and taken them to a rodeo, as well as baseball, football, basketball and hockey games. “And don't forget high school football, which in Britain is not such a big deal,” she added.

The Millers particularly appreciate First Baptist members Dave and Becky Harless, who have kept the couple in their home for six months. “They looked after us like their children,” she said.

“Despite the cultural difference, I was really impressed by how friendly a big church can be,” Miller said.

Throughout the internship program, First Baptist in Richardson also has gained many benefits, Harbour affirmed.

“They've been great people,” he said. “I've told Bill and Kerrion that just the opportunity to get to know Christian leaders from another part of the world is a blessings. They've all been unique personalities, very gifted. They have to be 'on the edge' to take this leap. These are exceptional, committed Christians.

“And we've learned from them. Several times along the way, we've told them what we do, and they raised that innocent question: 'Why are you doing that?' And sometimes we didn't have an answer. They've helped us see our habits from a fresh perspective.”

Many of the interns have been ministers who could make strong, ongoing contributions as more-permanent members of the First Baptist staff, Harbour acknowledged. But the church has avoided that “temptation.”

“It would undermine the credibility of this program,” which is geared to teaching and returning interns to their British churches, he explained.

And the program continues.

The Millers finish their assignment Dec. 28 and leave Richardson Dec. 29. The church already has lined up another couple, who will arrive next summer.