Lead for Life | Internship

Want to be a Christian leader? Want training to lead others? Want to help others know and love Jesus? The Lead for Life Internship is the place to go!

Lead For Life Promo

Tim and Rebecca Pfennigwerth talk about why they think the Lead for Life internship is so important.

Aims of the Lead for Life Internship

The PY Lead for Life Internship programme has three objectives:

Lead for Life Internship will help you grow as a leader in three ways:

Help build the foundations of their faith by providing young leaders with a deeper understanding of God’s word that they might love Him
Stimulate young leaders to grow in godly character by helping them nurture their relationship with God
Train young leaders in practical skills of leadership and ministering to others

The Programme

The programme has 3 components:

Residential training course for 6 days at PY Summer Camp involving teaching sessions and discussion groups. Teaching sessions are run by qualified ministers of the Presbyterian Church and experienced leaders.

Local church ministry and follow-up (i.e., Internship). For 12 months after the training course leaders will participate in some form of ministry in their local church (e.g. helping lead Sunday school, a kids club etc). A person from their local church provides ongoing support/mentoring to the leader during this time.

Small group leader at a PY camp or a pre-approved regional youth camp. Young leaders will be assistant leaders at PY Summer Camp or at a pre-approved regional youth camp. At these camps they will be paired with an experienced leader where they will gain experience in serving God in a wider Christian context outside their local church.

Testimonies

Cost and Register 2026

Summer Camp 2026 – $589

PY Summer Camp 2027 plus Camp Preparation Day
OR Pre-approved regional youth camp 2027.

Discount for Summer Camp $70 for more than one person in the same order.

Please note: This internship programme is substantially subsidised by PY.

Payment

Forms

Further Information

Requirements

The PY Lead for Life Internship programme is aimed at ages between 17-23 years old but there is flexibility at either end depending on individual circumstances. The programme also has a number of components in which the young leader must participate (essential dates for the diary in bold).

One week intensive training at Summer Camp (Dec 27 – Jan 1).
A ministry in their local church for the 12 months after Summer Camp. They might help or lead Sunday school, kids’ club, music ministry or youth group etc. This will need to be discussed and coordinated with their minister.
Meeting regularly with a mentor in their church during this time of ministry (mentoring).
Attending either PY Summer Camp or a pre-approved regional youth camp as an assistant leader. Please contact the co-ordinators if you would like to lead on a regional youth camp.
If attending a PY Camp, then the leader should attend a Preparation Day for camp leaders, held approximately one month before camp. If you live greater than 2 hours drive from Sydney you are exempt from attending Preparation Day and will be sent a distance pack instead.
Obtain a Working With Children Check clearance and undertake PY Child Protection training

What Bible Teaching is Covered in the Programme?

The teaching is designed to give young leaders solid grounding in understanding the Bible, Christian leadership and practical experience. Three areas will be taught – Christian Belief, Christian Leadership and Fieldwork in the local church. The intern will do Christian Belief and Christian leadership at Summer Camp and some reflection material post camp. The fieldwork component will be completed during the rest of the year and is based on non-compulsory assignments that reflect on the practical ministry interns do in their local church. Christian Belief will cover major themes of the Bible from a biblical and systematic theology perspective. Christian leadership is based on Jesus’ model of discipleship in the New Testament and the Fieldwork in the local church is based on the Lay Ministry Field Education subject of the ACT. The level of teaching is aimed at upper high school/first year tertiary.

It’s Challenging but Good!

The programme is challenging, both during the intensive training week at Summer Camp and during your 12 months of ministry in your local church. But the friendships and benefits young leaders gain will be with them for a long time.

The programme also requires a commitment from a young leader’s local church (especially to the mentoring component), so we need a positive endorsement as an indication of their willingness to meet these expectations. If a young leader is not successful for this intake, they can apply again for next year. Our acceptance or decline of an application is not to be taken as either an endorsement or recommendation of a person.

Application Process

The application process is online. A link to the intern form will be sent to the young leader and a link to the church form will be sent to the minister/elder of the local church. Both forms, A and C, are required before an application can be approved. No applications of Form A will be considered without a Form C.

FORM A

For young person intending to do the internship
Information about why the young person wants to do the Internship programme, their Christian background and current church involvement

Camp Rego Form

For young person intending to do the internship
Registration for Summer Camp

FORM C

For church young person currently attends
Provides church’s support for the young person’s application, including details of the mentoring process and internship

Endorsement of Session / Minister and Mentoring

The young person’s local church must submit the separate local church recommendation using the church form which will be sent to the church directly.

Please discuss with your minister or the person overseeing the application process the mentoring program that you will be doing. Start thinking how regularly you intend to meet, what structure the meetings will take and what sort of material you intend to cover during your meetings. An exception will be given to those applicants who have to change churches after Summer Camp because they will be moving to another location for work or study. However, your internship will need to be organised by May in the applicant’s new church for the second half of the year.

Important Things Checklist

I have discussed my application to this programme with my minister including who would be a suitable mentor and ministry for me.
I indicate that I am available for each of the components of the programme listed above.
I understand that these are costs for the programme and I am able to meet these costs.
If you are planning to do a ministry at your church that involves working with children or youth, your church will need you to obtain a Working with Children Check. Make sure you do this before starting any ministry. You will also be required to do Child Protection Training before leading on any of PY’s camps.
I understand that my enrolment in the programme is contingent upon my personal life living up to the ideals and morals found in Scripture both during the programme and back in my local church, and that breaches in regard to the above will jeopardise my enrolment in the programme.

Introduction

The recommendation form is designed to assist the team in selecting and designing the training process for the interns. Therefore, it is important to provide a balanced report—we are not simply seeking the brightest and best. There are many other factors that determine selection. A key factor in selecting the interns is the follow-up (both ministry internship and mentoring) that they will receive from their church. Those who are not offered placements this year can re-apply next year.

An outline of Lead for Life Internship requirements

The PY Lead for Life programme has three objectives:

Help build the foundations of their faith by providing young leaders with a deeper understanding of God’s word that they might love Him
Stimulate young leaders’ to grow in godly character by helping them nurture their relationship with God
Train young leaders in practical skills of leadership and ministering to others

There are three specific components to the programme.

Residential training course for 6 days at PY Summer Camp involving teaching sessions and discussion groups. Teaching sessions are run by qualified Presbyterian ministers and experienced leaders.
Local church ministry and follow-up (i.e. Internship). For 12 months after the training course leaders will participate in some form of ministry in their local church (e.g. helping lead Sunday school, a kids club etc). A person from their local church provides ongoing support/mentoring to the leader during this time.
Assistant small group leader at a PY camp or a pre-approved regional youth camp. Young leaders will be assistant leaders at either a PY Summer Camp or at a pre-approved regional youth camp. At these camps they will be paired with an experienced leader where they will gain experience in serving God in a wider Christian context outside their local church. Please contact the co-ordinators if you would like to lead at a regional youth camp in your area.

What Bible Teaching is Covered in the Programme?

Importance of the Local Church Recommendation and Mentoring

The programme is about developing emerging young leaders (17 – 23 years old but flexible) in the local church. It is important for us to work with local churches, and we do this in two ways.

First, through your input and recommendation via this form we are able to deliver the best possible training experience, and train the people that you think would be most appropriate for the programme.

Second, the local church provides the in-church internship and mentoring for the young leader. To this end we ask the church to:

Discuss with the young leader areas they may be involved in for their internship. We expect the applicant and church to discuss these areas fully before Summer Camp and that the church assist them in developing a suitable programme that suits their needs and those of the church.
Allocate a suitable mature Christian in the church to be the applicant’s mentor. We expect this to be done in discussion with the applicant. It is very important that the mentor be determined before Summer Camp. This is to enable the mentoring and internship to begin as soon as possible after Summer Camp. Therefore, the person to be the mentor must agree to this and their contact details must be included on this form. A summary of the role of the mentor is provided on page 8 of this form. Once the application has been approved the mentor will be sent a full Mentor’s Guide to assist them in their role. An exception will be given to those applicants who have to change churches after Summer Camp because they will be moving to another location for work or study. However, their internship will need to be organised by May in the applicant’s new church for the second half of the year.

Significant Dates

The significant dates in relation to the Lead for Life internship are as follows:

One-week intensive training at Summer Camp (Dec 27 – Jan 1)
Attending either a PY Summer Camp or a pre-approved regional youth camp as an assistant leader. Please contact the co-ordinators if you would like to lead at a regional youth camp in your area.
If attending a PY Summer Camp, attending a Preparation Day for camp leaders held approximately one month before camp

Summary of the Role of the Local Church Mentor

Vision and Purpose of the Lead For Life Internship Programme

The vision of PY’s Lead for Life Internship programme is to help develop the spiritual foundations of young leaders that they might love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength (Deut. 6:5). By so doing we aim to develop leaders who will serve faithfully as the people God designed them to be in their local churches, community, family and wider church. The Lead for Life Internship programme is not just about equipping people with skills in “doing” ministry. Rather it is more about building Christian character and encouraging a young leader’s personal growth in Christ.

The Training Programme

The aims of the training programme are to:

Help build the foundations of their faith by providing young leaders with a deeper understanding of God’s word that they might love Him
Stimulate young leaders to grow in godly character by helping them nurture their relationship with God
Train young leaders in practical skills of leadership and ministering to others

Purpose of the internship component

The purpose of the local church internship component is to:

To provide young leaders with an opportunity to serve in or through their local church and to grow in Christian maturity through structured oversight and supportive relationships.

The internship will give the young leaders valuable experience in putting into practice many of the things they learnt during the residential training week. It is easy to come away from a week of training and not know how it is supposed to work in practice. Therefore, the internship is a very important part of the programme as it will give the young leader the challenge of growing in the characteristics of a leader in very practical situations.

The Role of the Mentor

Your role as a mentor is to provide them with structured oversight to help them grow in their Christian character as they engage in some practical ministry situation. The structured oversight you will provide will help them to think through what they are doing and grow in maturity in Christ from their experiences.

Your role will involve five main things:

Meeting with your young leader regularly
Praying for your young leader regularly
Guiding your young leader in their internship programme
Helping your young leader set and work towards goals in personal godliness
A Guide for the Mentor is sent to all mentors after the residential training component at Summer Camp, and this provides more detailed guidance and suggested resources for your role. This Guide can be sent to you earlier upon request.