What if I already go to a church? Will I be asked to leave it?
This internship is designed so that you can participate in your regular Sunday church. The internship time commitment will be every Tuesday evening, and once a month there will be a second evening. At the end of the internship you will not have any specific connection or commitment to be part of Grove Community activities.
What is the commitment of the internship?
There several different commitments
- time - roughly 6 hours a week (3 hours on Tuesday evenings, 3 hours on your own). We will go on two full day retreats (Nov., May). Starting January one of the Tuesday evenings will be cancelled and each person will be involved in a weekly or biweekly outreach activity.
- money - each person is asked to contribute $70 to cover costs of the internship, plus to tithe $20/month towards outreaches. If finances are a challenge, please speak to us.
- integrity and openness - each person will commit to be honest in all their dealings with each other and to press into greater and greater openness in the group. In addition, each person will have a Criminal Record Check and a Child Abuse Registry check.
What is the curriculum of the internship?
The curriculum has three elements:
- teaching and practical exploration of Christian basics such as Bible study, spiritual disciplines/practices, healing, community life, call and vocation, money and finances, etc.
- the overall emphasis this year of the internship is outreach into the community
- additional elements will be decided by the needs and desires of the participants
I am interested in the internship. How should I decide whether this is for me?
Discernment is the Christian practice of learning to weigh issues so that we can make decisions. Some elements that you should consider in deciding about the internship are:
- Is God calling me to this?
- How does this internship resonate with my own heart, needs, desires and hopes? Do I feel excitement or obligation?
- Do I practically have enough time and energy to fulfill the commitments of the internship? Or will I be overcommitted and stressed by joining? Similarly what season of my life am I in? Are there other commitments that might prevent me from participating fully?
Who is the Grove Community?
Currently there are 5 people who are the calling team or hosts for the internship. We all live in the Bayers Connaught neighbourhood (West Halifax). However we each belong to different churches, both Protestant and Catholic.
Is the Grove Community connected with a particular church or denomination?
The Grove Community is loosely affiliated with the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches as a church plant. However there is no effort to make internship participants any particular denomination. Rather our core beliefs and practices are:
- active relationship with God is the start of everything, whether daily life, activities, change, practices, community or justice
- life in Jesus is real and hard
- God, his beauty, love and goodness are present and active in us and the world
- the dream of God is always bigger, higher and deeper
- each of us is called and gifted
- the journey always draws us in love to others, near and far
