As young adults engage in career internships, many are afforded exceptional mentorship and a structured introduction to their workplace organizations. Several of these emerging adults will go on to leadership roles and possibly executive positions. But what would happen if ministry service was also part of the internship experience?

Younger Generation Church [YG], the vibrant young adult ministry of the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church in Texas, initiated a collaboration with AdventHealth Southwest to offer a discipleship component to their summer interns in healthcare leadership. In addition to the interns’ operations, clinical, and department rotations in the hospital, there would be a local ministry aspect including engagement with pastors, spiritual outreach, and church organization. 

“Exposing our future leaders to ministry service in a local church context provides [them] a game-changing experience. We tell our CEOs within AdventHealth that you aren’t just the Chief Executive Officer — you are the Chief Spiritual Officer. This means leading your team spiritually and being involved in your local church. Starting this servant leader practice early on will set them up for future success,” said Penny Johnson, president and CEO of AdventHealth Southwest Region.

Last summer, YG launched the first pilot collaboration with AdventHealth Southwest, integrating discipleship-focused opportunities for leadership interns from Texas Health Huguley Hospital. Arielle Powell, Texas Health Huguley director of strategic operations, orchestrated the involvement of interns with the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Powell remarked, “It is crucial for young emerging leaders to build a strong spiritual foundation. I was beyond blessed to work with Pastor Allan Martin and the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church to give our summer interns the opportunity to learn the importance of living a Christ-centered life and being involved in the local church.” 

Holly Janzen joined YG/AdventHealth from Southern Adventist University, Daniela Patiño-Salguero from Southwestern Adventist University, and Brenden Watson from Oakwood University. Janzen, Patiño-Salguero, and Watson were very engaged throughout the summer, asking great questions that revealed their heart for mission. 

When selecting an outreach project, the interns chose Vacation Bible School [VBS], again impressing local church leaders with their involvement and engagement. Watson, a management intern, noted, “The highlight of this experience for me was volunteering for Vacation Bible School. Being able to witness the children of the community have smiles on their faces while they learned about God warmed my heart.” 

Patiño-Salguero, a strategy and marketing intern, added, “As leadership interns, we were exposed to many areas that helped us grow in our professional journey. And as we experienced ministry shadowing with the Arlington Adventist Church, I realized the importance of young leaders being involved in local churches to grow in their spiritual journey. Ministry shadowing [exposed us] to various church involvement opportunities. [From] VBS, … I learned the importance of intentionality in growing and nurturing the upcoming generation. I’m very grateful to Pastor Martin for setting up all these opportunities for us to serve and have fun.”

Near the end of summer, Dr. Elton DeMoraes, the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists president, took the interns to lunch, engaging in meaningful conversation with them and answering their questions. The discussion ranged from church organizational structure to personal reflections on ministry and family life. 

“It was a privilege to meet with the leadership interns and learn about their aspirations. I applaud Texas Health Huguley Hospital and Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church for partnering to provide mentorship and internship opportunities to develop future full-time employees and engaged church leaders. We had a great interaction, and their questions showed their interest in learning,” said DeMoraes.

The interactions and conversations between the young adult interns and church leaders fostered significant growth for everyone involved. Beyond the career implications was a shared commitment to spiritual growth. The hope is that these integrated internship experiences will remind the students throughout their careers of the value of local church involvement.

“[When] the other interns and I met with Pastor Allan Martin of the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church, he emphasized the importance of being a leader not only at your job but also in your local church,” Watson shared.

Janzen, a CP-finance intern, asserted, “This is a powerful ministry that the church should continue to do with the interns here at Huguley Hospital. My takeaways from the summer are what [being] a leader in ministry looks like both at work and church and that people can serve Christ and be a part of ministry even behind the scenes. Thank you for all you [Pastor Martin] and the church did for us as interns this summer and for caring for our spiritual growth!”  

YG aspires to expand the mentoring opportunities to include young adults from more diverse vocational fields. This summer, the internship collaboration will grow fourfold as 10-12 AdventHealth interns and residents from across the country will join the ministry experience. 

— Young Adult LIFE [youngadultlife.com] connects and empowers an emerging generation of leaders to be changemakers in the Church, marketplace, and culture. Based on an interdisciplinary framework for ministry leadership development, Young Adult LIFE endeavors to cultivate personal core competencies in these areas: Leadership Impact | Intergenerational Relationships | Faith Development | Everyday Compassion