From Clergy Intern Laura Solomon

Dear WES,

As I reflect on my 8 months at WES, several thoughts come to mind:

1. Wow.  I am not the same person, or intern, or student I was 8 months ago.
2. WES knows how to give an intern an amazing experience.

I have learned so much from you, with you, and about you – and I hope to tell you more about all of that soon.

First, I have other news.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve received emails from several of you asking, “with Amanda leaving, what will happen with your internship?”  I – and the Board in their letter last week – had to give a tentative answer as plans were being finalized. 

Now, plans have been finalized, and my answer is this: pending Amanda’s successful candidating week, I will be going with Amanda to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, where I will complete the second year of my two-year, half-time internship.

Which means: you get to give me another big learning experience.  

But why!?

The path to ordination and fellowship within the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a long, complicated process.  It requires completion of an internship with a Unitarian Universalist minister in Full Fellowship with the UUA.  The relationship between a student and the clergy leader begins a full year before the congregational internship starts – I had been meeting with Amanda for a year before I met any of you or participated in a platform service.  The Ministerial Fellowship Committee prefers that this internship be completed with the same clergy person – so for me, there is a preference that I would complete my internship with Amanda.  

And, perhaps most importantly, as you prepare to find an Interim Clergy Leader, it is important that you are able to find an Interim that meets your needs – without worrying about whether the right person for you is also the right person for me.

Here’s where the next learning piece comes in.

The UUA Internship Manual says that a good teaching site has the following attributes:

• Is dedicated to excellence in clergy leadership
• Gives an intern the opportunity to make a significant contribution
• Enables an intern to pursue learning goals in a supportive atmosphere
• Provides opportunities for a variety of professional experiences 

And my goodness!  WES has certainly provided all of this and more.

The final “lesson” an intern learns is how to leave a congregation.  Just as writing platforms, and running the stewardship campaign, and providing pastoral care is part of the life of a clergy person, leaving a congregation one has grown so fond of is part of that life as well.  

So now what?

I will definitely be around WES for another month, finishing this year’s internship.  This summer, I will be completing my Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) unit at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.  

But before then, I will be around for several platforms, flying around cyberspace into various Zoom rooms where we will get to say hello – and also goodbye.

And I will always remain grateful for the learning you have provided as I have learned how to be a clergyperson.  Truly grateful – from beginning, to end.

To beginning, and ending, and beginning again – 

Laura Solomon, Clergy Intern