By: Jody Thone

Churches need passionate young leaders, and young leaders need opportunities to discover their gifts for ministry. Since 2014, The ELI Project has been pairing college-age leaders with clergy mentors giving each an opportunity to lead, grow, and learn.

College students: click here to apply for The ELI Project Summer 2018.

This summer, The ELI Project is turning four years old, and we are ready to have another great cohort of young adult interns with clergy mentors to take on a summer of ministry work together. The ELI internship program is an extremely valuable part of our goal in the Minnesota Annual Conference to grow missional leaders. We believe: All are called and strategically deployed for the abundant life in Jesus Christ, and some are called and “set within” the church to lead the movement and develop other leaders. Perhaps, they just aren’t sure of it yet.

Joe Meinholz, a 2017 ELI intern, said, “I plan to continue on the path to pastoral ministry with schooling, now with a better sense of what it might be like (as a clergy person) full time.”

Do you know students like Joe who are considering a call to ordained ministry? Do you see leadership skills, a love of God and neighbor, and a desire to reach new people and heal a broken world in the young people around you? The ELI Project Internship offers students an opportunity to try on life as an ordained clergy leading this movement. We are asking you to help raise up these young leaders!

Hannah Lundberg, an ELI Intern 2017 said, “I love that The ELI Project puts interns individually with one specific church but also allows them to gather together and work as a group in learning about call and the larger structures of the Minnesota United Methodist Church. I felt like I got a great balance of learning opportunities, and I really loved that I got to network with a wide range of clergy and other students discerning a call to ministry.”

Here’s how you can help:

• E-mail or text all of your college-aged students inviting them to learn about The ELI Project with this link: www.eliprojectmn.com
• Share Facebook and Instagram posts from The ELI Project.
• Get the word out about The ELI Project in your bulletins, newsletters, announcement boards, etc. Materials are being sent to Minnesota churches this week.
• Consider being a Clergy Mentor and Host Congregation for the ELI Project. Applications are due by March 1^st.

Thank you on behalf of the ELI Project 2018 Team: Jody Thone, Director of Leadership Development; Rev. Erica Koser, Centenary UMC, Mankato; Rev. Shawn Moore, The Beloved, St. Paul; and Rev. Rachel Warner, Christ UMC, Maplewood