Richard Springer, the Director of our Urban Leadership School, blogs on our summer internship programme. Applications are now open: might it be right for you or for someone you know…?
For over a decade, CTC’s Summer Internship has given a remarkable opportunity to young people interested in developing their own capacity as Christian leaders and directly participating in church based community organising in London.
The Summer Internship gives the young leaders a very practical placement in a church, which is already engaged in community organising in its neighbourhood. Our partner churches are Anglican, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, as well as other reformed traditions and so are our interns.
These churches alongside community organisers and the Urban Leadership School, have prepared placements, which offer interns the chance to observe, participate and lead on community organising work locally.
It’s an intense four weeks and serves as a first step introduction for young leaders to the work we believe it takes to equip churches to transform their communities.
The interns are supported during the internship through training and mentoring provided by professional community organisers, supervision in church placements – interns are placed carefully in their own worshipping tradition – theological reflection and prayer.
The Urban Leadership School seeks to ensure that each cohort of developing young Christian leaders relate and build together out of the depth and strength of their own traditions. A broad range of interns have participated on the internship, from right across the UK, into Europe, Africa and the USA. Each year the cohorts learn significantly from one another, reflecting on their experience across a range of theological traditions and diverse backgrounds.
The base for training, theological reflection and prayer is at the CTC offices in the east end of London. CTC is committed to East London and the majority of placements are in this part of the city.
The Urban Leadership School aims to be part of the development of Christian leaders who work effectively across a range of constituencies to build the kind of relational power that empowers communities to believe in and make transformational change. That’s why we run the Summer Internship.
For many young Christian leaders who have participated over the past decade, the Summer Internship was the start of their journey. This entry is the first of a short series of blogs introducing you to some of those leaders who are now Summer Internship alumni.
If you or someone you know wishes to be part of this unique and life-changing opportunity this summer, applications are now open. The intrenship runs for a month from the 24th June.
Read more about it here (https://www.ctcuk.org/projects/training/) or email me on