Designing a Life-Changing Practicum Experience
“You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”
—2 Timothy 2:2
There are two primary paths that we can follow to transform our lives: Jesus and education.
Fortunately, at SEU we have the opportunity to combine these two paths to create a transformative experience for students. Before we can create this experience, we need to understand what it means for a life to be transformed. To illustrate this concept, let’s take a look at someone’s life who was completely changed by both Jesus and education — a man named Simon, whom we all know as Peter.
Before he met Jesus, Simon’s life was normal. He caught and sold fish, and hung out with his brother. At that time, he was living under Roman oppression. He was a Jew, which meant he would have heard the accounts of Moses, Joshua, and David. He would have had some history of his ancestors. He would have likely known about the birth of Jesus, but it had been 30 years since it happened.
By then, he was just living life as it came, but thinking that surely there was something more than what he was living at the time.
And then…
In Matthew 4, Jesus called Simon away from fishing. He said, “I want to make you a fisher of men.” With that invitation, he dropped his nets and followed Jesus everywhere. Along the way, he watched and learned from Him — by hearing the life-changing parables and sermons, and seeing the miracles. In fact — Simon quite literally became new, when Jesus gave him a new name — Peter.
Was Peter’s life changed? Not yet.
Peter eventually understood the truth about who Jesus really was. At one point, Jesus asked Peter who he thought He was. Peter responded confidently with, “You’re the Messiah.” Then, at that moment, Jesus told Peter that he would be the rock on which the church would be built (in fact, “rock” is what the name Peter means).
Was Peter’s life changed? Not yet.
Peter was full of faith when the centurions came to the garden to take Jesus away. He was so full of faith that he attacked the centurions in an effort to defend Jesus. But just a short while after, when confronted by onlookers during Jesus’s beating, Peter denied Jesus three times. He then witnessed Jesus crucified. However, just three days later, Peter saw the empty tomb.
In John 21, after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were in a boat fishing while Jesus was on the beach. After realizing it was Jesus waiting on the shore, Peter jumped in the water and swam to see Him. Jesus reignited Peter’s faith and redirected his gaze by challenging him to feed His sheep three separate times.
Was Peter’s life changed now? Yes!
How do we know? Because from that point on, Peter never returned to his fishing nets. He didn’t go back to what his life had always been. Instead, he was on a new path with a new purpose. The old life was no more. The new life had come.
Peter waited in the upper room, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and went on a spectacular spiritual journey. He preached powerful sermons, facilitated the healing of people, was arrested and then freed, created the ministry structure of the church, and took the Good News to the Gentiles. His life was radically different. He was no longer just a fisherman. Now, he was a fisher of men. No longer was he afraid, but bold and courageous. No longer did he wonder about the meaning of life, but now he lived in full purpose.
The process that led to Peter’s transformed life wasn’t immediate. This reminds us that transformation is a process, and that God isn’t in a hurry. Transformation requires undoing what is already formed and then re-forming it into something new. Like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, the process results in the former form dying and a new form coming alive.
For Peter, this transformation process took years; it involved successes and failures. It encompassed highs and lows. It took encouragement and correction. It entailed risks and rewards. It contained small steps and big leaps.
Using Simon Peter’s transformed life as an example, this guide will help you discover how to apply transformative elements to create a practicum program for your students.
Together, we can come alongside God’s work in their life and facilitate a high-impact, life-changing student experience.
First things first — What is practicum?
Practicum is the heartbeat of the SEU partner site program. It’s the intersection of education and experience in the student’s journey through their degree program. More specifically, the practicum is the space in which students gain hands-on experience in a practical learning environment, either at the church or in the community.
The SEU practicum is the practical portion of SEU’s partner site model (hence the name).
It is designed to help students integrate ongoing classroom learning with practical, hands-on ministry experience in a supervised setting. Think of a practicum similar to an on-site internship program. Even more than just the hands-on activities, the practicum is also where profound personal, professional, spiritual, and leadership development can happen.
The practicum model is built on four key elements:
Mentorship — Personal, professional, spiritual, and leadership investment from leaders within the local context. This element is the foundation of the student experience.
Practical Experience — The hands-on activities performed locally by students in a supervised setting.
Experiential Application — The ministry project or ministry focus that demonstrates the learning of the student.
Self-Reflection — The continual processing of the practical and mentorship experiences by the student to realize aspects of personal, professional, spiritual, and leadership growth.
This model can be visualized as:
The practicum is delivered as a course within the degree program curriculum, meaning students have academic requirements. The students will have a professor for their practicum course. And yes, students will be graded.
Within the academic guidelines of the course, partner sites have the freedom and flexibility to customize the practicum experience to best fit and serve their local church culture. Capitalize on this flexibility to design a unique program that has a workable schedule and a clear roadmap with defined objectives for students to achieve throughout their journey.
Remember that our collective goal is to cultivate and facilitate high-impact environments that transform students’ lives. Together, we are God’s stewards who have the privilege of preparing and training students to be change agents and transformational leaders in their lives, careers, and ministries. We are investing in the next generation!
Peter walked with Jesus for three years, hearing His teachings and having intimate conversations with Jesus. He got to know Jesus personally and even had his feet washed by Jesus. Whether in a group setting or a private moment, Jesus was always investing in Peter. He was always teaching, and always discipling Peter. But not all moments and conversations were smooth sailings. Sometimes a gentle correction or sharp rebuke was necessary…but always in love and always with the goal of preparing Peter for the purpose to which God had called him.
While one goal of the practicum is for students to gain hands-on experience, it is so much more than that. If the intent of the practicum is to merely provide students with opportunities to get work-related experience, then the experience will feel too operational and transactional. The potential exists for students to feel used up rather than built up. That’s why the mentorship foundation of the practicum experience must be relational and intentional — much like the dynamic between Jesus and Peter. Trust needed to be developed in order for Jesus to reach Peter’s heart, mind, and soul.
In the same way, effective mentorship is always relationship-based and done with intentionality. This type of mentorship is what separates the SEU practicum from any other practical experience a student may gain in an internship, part-time job, or volunteer service at a church. Because the relationship component is the key, mentorship is THE most important piece of the overall practicum experience.
Mentorship is not limited to just one person in the student’s overall practicum experience. It is not the responsibility of only the practicum supervisor, the ministry supervisor, or the practicum professor. Instead, mentorship should be embedded into the entire practicum experience, which allows all staff members and pastors to invest in the students.
We encourage all partner sites to think through what their mentoring process looks like.
First of all, don’t overthink it. And, don’t worry if you’ve never mentored anyone else before. Within the context of the SEU practicum, mentorship can be informal and also fun. At its core, mentorship is really about investing in the students. It’s about imparting wisdom that you’ve gained to help them grow in wisdom. It’s about instructing, guiding, and correcting the students when needed so they can keep moving forward in life. It’s about connecting with students personally so they feel seen, heard, and known. It’s about noticing and then affirming where you see them growing. And it’s about taking moments to encourage them to grow where they still need to grow.
The key to a life-changing mentorship experience is for mentors to come in with an understanding of their own experience, knowledge, and guidance. From that understanding, mentors can better determine the desired outcomes for students whom they are mentoring.
Here are a few questions for mentors to consider:
With the value of relationships in mind, one of the most important steps in designing a life-changing practicum is to identify mentors who have a true heart to invest in students. But who are they? Well, in the simplest terms, practicum mentors include everyone who engages with students during their practicum experience.
Practicum Supervisors — These are the staff members who oversee the various ministries of the church, such as youth pastors, children’s pastors, media pastors, executive pastors, and worship pastors. Their role is to create practical experiences in their respective ministries and to teach students the skills to serve and deliver with excellence in that particular ministry.
Site Directors — As the primary leader of the partner site, students naturally look to you for leadership, guidance, encouragement, and support. Your position provides fantastic opportunities to speak into the lives of your students.
Pastors — How meaningful and impactful for students to get to hang out with the lead pastor of your church, or other pastoral staff at your church. They could be in a group setting or a one-on-one setting. The more you can facilitate this, the better! Students love these learning opportunities.
Church & Community Leaders — Look beyond your staff and into your church and community for people of character who have the heart to see young leaders develop in their gifts. These people often have tremendous life experiences and can speak wisdom and encouragement over your students to make a meaningful and lasting impact in their lives. And even if you know people who aren’t local, do a Zoom call with the students and someone you want them to get to know and hear from.
If we are modeling the practicum mentorship after Jesus’ mentorship of Peter and the disciples, we can structure mentorship to include:
Asking & Listening — Good questions facilitate discovery, learning, and understanding for students. Being a good listener is paramount to developing personal and constructive relationships with students..
Teaching — Jesus was a teacher. He had knowledge and wisdom to share with the disciples. In the same way, pastors and staff have knowledge and experience to share with students. Mentors pass on what they know.
Giving Feedback — Beyond sharing wisdom, great mentors provide great feedback and inform students of their progress and areas of continued development. Giving constructive and candid feedback provides the guardrails that keep students engaged and on track. Constructive feedback is necessary to maximize their development and includes appropriate instruction and correction that challenges students to wrestle with their understanding.
Questions for Mentors
What does mentorship look like in the practicum? Mentorship can be fluid in its delivery, which enables mentors to adapt their engagement with students to the various contexts of the practicum experience.
Group | Individual | |
Formal | Scheduled group and/or classroom settings with students that involves teaching, discussion, learning, etc. | Scheduled 1×1 meetings to check in and know what’s happening in a student’s life as well as with his/her academics |
Informal | Situational conversations and discussions that create teachable moments but are usually impromptu or unexpected | Conversational check-ins, relationship-based feedback, and seizing unplanned teachable moments |
This element of the mentorship process is vital for real transformation. Students need to be challenged and held accountable, but they also need to reflect on the words spoken over them, to reflect on their challenges, and on the ways they were held accountable. They also need to ask themselves tough questions that challenge their thoughts, actions, and beliefs. It is in this wrestling and reflection where true growth occurs.
Here are some sample reflection questions:
As you are structuring your practicum experience and training your practicum supervisors and mentors, there are several questions you will want to answer. These questions will not only clarify the expectations for mentors, but they will also help you and your team to prepare for contingencies.
Peter supported Jesus and partnered with Him in His ministry. Whether he was gathering food to feed 5,000 or procuring a donkey for a ride into Jerusalem, Peter watched and learned. He listened and discovered. He experienced real ministry as he observed how to preach, how to pray, how to heal, and how to live and love like Jesus. It was a practical, hands-on experience. In the same way, the practicum is an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in an immersive, supervised environment. Serving in a church or other organization, students support the work of the organization by serving day-to-day and completing tasks or projects to help the organization or department fulfill its mission.
Let’s examine the logistical and practical aspects of the student experience.
Every semester, students may enroll in a 16-week course called Student Ministry Practicum (PMIN 2303). Within the scope of this course, each partner site has the freedom to create the practicum experiences that they will offer to their students. In the development of the student experience, the ultimate outcome for your students is to have a high-quality experience, which usually involves students serving in a role where they can have meaningful engagement with practical, hands-on service learning opportunities.
While enrolled, students engage in their practicum through:
Practical Experience — For 8–12 hours per week, students serve alongside a ministry supervisor (Note: Different partner sites use different terms like track supervisor, track coach, or practicum supervisor). These leaders will directly oversee the student’s ministry experience during the semester. Along the way, they will offer feedback and evaluation to help facilitate personal and professional growth for students (see Mentorship section).
Experiential Application — During the practicum, students will complete a ministry project. In essence, their ministry project is their ministry focus for that semester. There is a lot of freedom and flexibility in regard to what constitutes a ministry project. It is up to the site directors to guide students on which ministry area will be their focus. Whatever becomes their ministry project will be incorporated into the SEU Practicum Course, which requires them to submit an essay at the end of the semester to reflect on what they learned and experienced.
Resources:
The practicum path includes two core elements: practical experience and application. In other words, students learn through serving alongside others and then completing a project to demonstrate their learning. As you’re developing your practicum, always consider these two elements.
To help you get started, below are some examples of experiential opportunities, along with application options in various ministry tracks.
For students who have a unique calling to serve the local church through pastoral leadership, this practicum enables students to gain hands-on experience in the areas of sermon preparation and preaching, teaching, team development, discipleship, pastoral care, missions, and community outreach.
Practical Experience | Experiential Application |
Shadow pastoral staff to learn how to prepare a sermon | Prepare and then preach a sermon |
Shadow pastoral staff on hospital visit | Do a hospital visit with pastoral staff observing, followed by debrief |
Read over some sample wedding outlines | Prepare your own wedding outline |
This experience in Creative Media develops students’ talents in media and technology to impact and inspire people through Spirit-empowered worship services. This may be done through the use of videography, photography, film production, social media, and service production technologies.
Practical Experience | Experiential Application |
Receive training in graphic design and/or video production from staff member | Create a graphic (or video) used at the church (could be used in youth ministry, kids ministry, etc.) |
Learn the ins and outs of how a staff person runs social media at the church | Contribute to a social media account at the church |
Get trained in how to take photos/b-roll, and load it into appropriate portals | Capture photos/b-roll and load content into the appropriate portals. |
This practicum experience offers opportunities to further develop students’ musical gifts and prepare them to lead powerful, Spirit-filled worship. Elements of this practicum experience include songwriting, worship service development, audio and visual engineering, and stage leadership.
Practical Experience | Experiential Application |
Learn how to use Pro Presenter | Create slides for an event at the church in Pro Presenter |
Join stage/production team | Prepare the stage for a weekend service |
Shadow stage manager and/or producer for weekend service | Serve as stage manager or producer for weekend service |
Learn how to use Planning Center | Create a Planning Center service flow |
Students who have a heart for investing and empowering the next generation will develop a deeper understanding and compassion for children and youth, while learning how to create ministry experiences that impact their lives for eternity. Elements of this practicum include service planning, discipleship, sermon preparation, content development, curriculum implementation, outreach events, and small groups.
Practical Experience | Experiential Application |
Shadow leader who plans services in kids ministry | Plan and lead a preschool or elementary service |
Learn how to assimilate a new volunteer in kids or student ministry | Fully assimilate three new volunteers in kids or student ministry |
Learn how to run a college night booth | Plan for, prepare, and run the college night booth four times |
This practicum experience is designed for students who sense a calling to share the love of Jesus and take the Gospel to the streets, throughout the city, and to the ends of the earth. Students can gain experience in both local outreach and global missions, including event planning, relationship development, resource procurement, group leadership, and interpersonal engagement.
Practical Experience | Experiential Application |
Serve on the Safety Team at an outreach event | Assimilate a new volunteer onto the Safety Team for an outreach event |
Shadow a leader who organizes and facilitates an outreach project | Organize, lead, and serve in an outreach project |
Attend a community event from a list of community partners. | Build a relationship with a community leader and partner with them on an outreach event |
This practicum is for students who want to build and manage the organizational engine that enables ministry to happen. Whether in the church or in the marketplace, students will be exposed to various areas of business management, including finances, operations, facilities management, marketing, small groups, and human resources.
Practical Experience | Experiential Application |
Serve four weekends on the parking lot team | Recruit two volunteers to serve on the parking team |
Observe and interact with staff members while they write thank you notes to volunteers | Write three thank you notes per week to volunteers for 4 to 6 weeks |
Shadow leaders who clean and prepare, as well as close the building after a weekend service or midweek service | Clean and prepare the church for a weekend service, and close the building after a weekend service or midweek service |
Serve as an apprentice leader in a small group and attend small group leader training session | Demonstrate mastery by facilitating a small group discussion |
Once again, this element of the practicum is vital for real transformation. Students need to be exposed to opportunities for skill development while also being challenged and held accountable for the quality of their work. They need to reflect on their challenges and the ways they were held accountable, their accomplishments, and their failures through their experiences. And they need to ask themselves direct questions that open their eyes to see the growth that they’ve experienced.
Here are some sample reflection questions:
In regard to selecting which ministry tracks to offer, the possibilities are endless. However, it’s best to start smaller by selecting just a few tracks. This approach will help you focus on creating a few high-quality tracks, which will position your site to accomplish the goals at hand and gain the necessary traction to execute with excellence.
As time goes on, you can expand how many tracks you offer. There are even some sites that offer just one or two tracks (usually in student ministry and/or kids ministry). But, whatever approach you decide on, you’ll likely learn a lot during your first year. By starting with a smaller number of ministry tracks, you will be able to evaluate what’s working well and what’s not and ensure you have the right staff in place to encourage success.
When selecting your tracks, be sure to clarify expectations with your students as well as your ministry track supervisors, ideally by outlining these expectations in writing. Then, like everything in leadership and ministry, do your best to be effective and consistent in your communication as well as your evaluation of the overall track experience and expectations. This will drive you toward excellence and create a high quality experience for your students.
Remember, it’s essential to remain in sync with your ministry supervisors about the progress, growth, and challenges that your students are facing in their ministry involvement. This is where remarkable learning and transformation happens. Students don’t simply need experience to grow, they need evaluation of those experiences.
NOTE: During a student’s first semester, most partner sites facilitate a ministry rotation that exposes students to various ministries within the church. For example, students serve in one ministry track for 2–4 weeks and then move into another ministry track for another 2–4 weeks. Some partner sites limit it to 3 or 4 tracks, while others do 2 weeks in 6–8 tracks throughout the semester.
We consider this ministry rotation method one of the best practices of SEU partner sites. This rotation rhythm works very well because it exposes students to ministries they may not have considered beforehand. Ultimately, you can decide whether your students rotate in and out of different ministries, or whether you keep them focused on one or two ministries from the outset. You know your culture and students best, but this method is highly recommended.
Leaders grow best and learn most when they are given the opportunity to lead something. If the students aren’t quite ready to lead, they can shadow another leader who is willing to help them grow in their leadership development journey. This will help get them ready to lead in the near future.
Whatever ministry tracks you select, consider who the students will be partnered with as their ministry supervisor, as that person will impact the quality of their practicum experience more than anything else. Find track supervisors who care about students, embody enthusiasm and passion to work with and invest in them, and who have a vision and heart for making an impact on the next generation.
As a site director, your communication and relationship with these supervisors is crucial to the success of the practicum. Remind them often about the vision of leadership development in the lives of these young and emerging leaders.
As a site director, here are some questions that you can ask your students to reinforce leadership development:
When approaching the design of your weekly practicum schedule, it is important to consider every area of a student’s week. Each site will have a unique schedule to varying degrees because every church has unique factors such as service times and days or what days the staff is in the office. The sample schedule found below should be used as a framework, not an exact model that we expect you to replicate. Mostly, the sample schedule is intended to inform the “what” more than the “when.”
Key Areas to Include in Your Student’s Week
Designated class/study time — Regardless of whether you currently offer online only or also have face-to-face courses at your site, many students need structure carved out in their weekly schedule to ensure they focus adequately on their academics.
Leadership Development Opportunities — We encourage you to embed leadership development in all you do, remembering to be intentional about it along the way.
Spiritual Formation Opportunities — Cultivate weekly and monthly experiences for God to work in the lives of students. These can be some of the most transformational moments and best memories your students (and you) have.
Ministry Experience Hours — We recommend 2–3 hours per day for 2–3 days per week (in addition to serving and participating in church services).
Sample Weekly Schedule
The following assignments must be completed by the student for their practicum course. These assignments not only provide artifacts that show the work the student has been doing but also help the student reflect on what they are learning and receive feedback to help them continue to grow.
We’ve done our best to keep this process simple but meaningful to each student in their unique journey with God.
Assignment Name | Recommended Due Date |
Ministry Agreement Form | Week 3 |
Ministry Project Progress Report | Week 9 |
Supervisor Evaluation Form | Week 15 |
Self-Evaluation Form | Week 16 |
Ministry Project Learning Essay | Week 16 |
Over the years, we have seen many students lose sight of the practicum assignments and due dates throughout the semester. So, we encourage you to remind them to turn in their assignments on time. You can help provide accountability and ensure they are striving to earn full credit in the practicum course.
Check out some additional Practicum Resources below!