Meet the Interns...

A year or so ago Brent, Steve and I were discussing the fact that God had brought, to our church, an amazing group of talented, dynamic, creative individuals that were each beginning a journey of finding a place to serve at Silver Creek Family. These 20 somethings were seeking more and more opportunities to plug in, dabble in various (and multiple) areas in ministry, were desiring to impact the direction of Silver Creek and were ultimately wrestling with the question as to whether God might be calling them into full time ministry.

During this same time we have been working towards building our ministry teams, raising up leaders of leaders and developing ministry in all areas. We feel that we have the potential to greatly impact our community and so we wanted to create an environment where people could be trained, coached, mentored and given an opportunity to be involved on a deeper level. We met with Brian Muchmore, the director of Youth For Christ, Metro Area, and he had some great advice in developing an internship program. His experience both inspired and scared us. Ultimately we felt this was an area that God had called us to develop and so we moved forward and diligently starting putting wheels on the program.

I am happy to report that, as of today, we have FIVE amazing interns that have agreed to journey with us on this first step. In exchange for their weekly time, we have offered a room in our intern home (former parsonage). We believe that by living together, working together and being involved in ministry together that we can help to create a spiritually rich and fulfilling opportunity from which our interns can launch into ministry.

We desire to invest in them and coach them towards their calling while still accomplishing our mission at Silver Creek. It is one of our Core Values to SERVE and so we provide opportunities for kids from 4th grade on up to adults to plug in and offer their gifts in all areas of the church. This is just another step towards making that a priority, not only in our church, but in the hearts of individuals that attend Silver Creek. It is an investment that is not just for today but for our future.

Now that you know some of the background, allow me to introduce each of them to you!

Ashley Gingrich
Mid-High Student Ministries Intern

Ashley is a fun, committed, loving and energetic leader. She has had a passion for student ministries and has worked in ministry for many years. She stepped into the role of directing our 5th-8th grade student ministries in 2009 and has been involved with Leadership, Creative Team, FUSiON, Base Camp and Worship. You name it, she has done it! It wasn't until recently that she stepped up her role in Student Ministries and she was brought on as an official intern in May. Ashley coordinates a team of amazing individuals to pour into the lives of students on Wednesday nights and she prepares curriculum for Summit 56 as well a Gen 78 on Sundays. She is also on the lookout for new faces in our 5-8th grades and will be doing contact work in developing relationship with those kids.

Mandy Ingraham
Student Development Intern

Mandy is a wonderful, sensitive, highly driven firecracker. She has worked as a coach for our ISA camp for 5 years and has been involved in some capacity for 10. She has now joined our ISA Leadership Team. She is creative, organized and incredibly capable. Mandy is able to connect with students in an amazing way. She reaches out to those hurting and she knows exactly how to connect with their hearts. Mandy will be working closely with our students, 4-12th grades, that volunteer on a regular basis at Silver Creek. She is overseeing our Asst. Coach team for ISA this year and she will be spending time connecting with kids throughout the year that serve in various roles in the church. She works with kids on Wednesday nights in addition to both Summit 56 and Gen 78 on Sunday mornings. She desires to be a liaison between students and leadership and will help in connecting and plugging new individuals in to ministry.

Paul Charles
ISA Head Coach
Summer Intern

Paul is back in the area for his 10th year with ISA (International Soccer Academy). Paul has just finished his third year at Eastern University and spent his Spring Semester studying at Jerusalem University College. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Silver Creek Family Church during his summer breaks. We have enjoyed throwing Paul into working with the Students and Kids and he also has been able to preach from time to time. Paul will be returning to Eastern University in mid-August but we encourage you to get to know him during his short stint here. He loves to debate and discuss all sorts of biblical issues and he has a real passion for the next generation and connecting them to the heart of God.

Travis Gingrich
General Ministries Intern
Webmaster

Travis is a bright, witty, renaissance man who has a special gift with technology. Travis is a man of many talents. He is intrigued by the challenge of solving problems and he is absolutely committed and driven by opportunities to show excellence. He is generous with his time and resources and is wanting to dabble in many areas of ministry, this is why his title is less than specific. Travis recently launched our new Silver Creek Website and he is constantly looking to improve the way we market and show ourselves to the community. Travis also loves to read and is constantly driving us to look at who we are and what we want to accomplish through the eyes of those outside our church. Travis has started a connect group with some young 20s and has found it to be fulfilling and challenging.

Breanna Hemingway
High School Ministries Student Intern

Our most recent addition to the intern program is Breanna Hemingway. Breanna is passionate, creative, incredibly extroverted and loves life. She has been involved with ministry since she was in high school both as a student and worship leader. She desires to know people at their core and she pursues relationships with everyone. Breanna is rejoining us after being away for a year. She returned to the Lynnwood area in December '09 and has been involved at South Everett Foursquare in both serving the students, Wednesday night homework groups and also recently having the opportunity to preach to their congregation. Breanna has also spent time on the mission field in Ghana working with Child Evangelism Fellowship and is passionate about reaching those that have yet to meet Jesus. We are excited to have Breanna joining us in the beginning of July in working with our High School Ministry. She will be moving into the role of leading the HS team, she will be preparing talks for our students and she will be doing a lot of contact work to build relationships.

I hope that you have spent a little bit of time reading these short paragraphs about these young leaders. They each, individually, are gifted and will be incredible assets to their areas of ministry in which they serve. If you see them in the halls, I encourage you to take the time to get to know them a little bit better. They are around Silver Creek all of the time and we are blessed to have them as a part of our growing community.

Thank you for your support in helping to make this ministry opportunity a success!
See you in church on Sunday!
Elizabeth Volz
Executive Pastor Silver Creek Family Church