The Exploring Leadership Internship (ELI) Project is a Minnesota Conference internship program for college students exploring a call to vocational ministry. Up to 10 college students are selected each summer, and each intern spends eight weeks at a host church or organization. You will gain experience in a wide variety of ministerial contexts and find the space and tools you need to discern God’s call.

Explore whether a career as an elder, deacon, or licensed local pastor in the Minnesota Conference is God’s call for you. And learn about the many benefits and ministry opportunities that come with choosing to serve in Minnesota!

If you feel called to professional ministry in The United Methodist Church, explore what it means to serve as an elder, deacon, or licensed local pastor. Or if you are already ordained in another denomination and would like to inquire about ministry in the Minnesota Conference of The United Methodist Church, start here.

Through baptism, we are each called to serve God and others. Lay people might be called to serve through a secular career, their role in their family, or as a lay staff person or volunteer in their congregation, district, or conference. Learn about lay servant ministry opportunities within the Minnesota Conference.