Equipping Leaders in Partnership with the
Local Church
Student Internships
A distinctive feature of the MDiv program is that a significant portion of the coursework takes place within local church contexts, while the remaining courses are taught in the classroom. This model reflects ITS’s mission to collaborate with local churches in the formation of future leaders. In this way, ITS fulfills its vision of uniting rigorous, graduate-level academic instruction with real, hands-on ministry experience right here in Indianapolis.
Internships are arranged collaboratively between the student and the supervising church and pastor, further strengthening this partnership in the work of ministry.
Host an Internship Program
Indianapolis Theological Seminary runs an MDiv curriculum that is conducive to students serving in local churches who hire them as pastoral interns to serve and learn through the experience. The details of the internship are determined by the needs and vision of the church leadership, but they must be designed to serve the student’s growth and vitality. While an internship meets the needs of your church’s ministry, it is also a focused opportunity for the pastor to develop a new leader. The ITS curriculum is flexible to fit a variety of schedules and ministries.
It is our conviction that it is the primary responsibility of local churches to raise up leaders in fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20). As an example of this, in 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul exhorts Timothy—a local church pastor—saying, “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” ITS exists to collaborate with local churches to fulfill this enduring command. Churches that have pastoral internships have found them to be an effective means to such ends. Such a marriage of local church training and academic study better prepares the intern for a life of God-glorifying ministry than if the school or church operated alone.