College & Young Adults
Each semester, including over the summer, CBF offers the opportunity to college age youth (18 and over), seminarians and graduate students to enjoy mission opportunities that may lead to vocation callings in church or field ministries.
Historically, we’ve called these programs Student.Church and Student.Go, but we are now integrating these programs under the new name StudentServe.
Each participant will receive a stipend of $1,800 for Summer (240 hrs) and $3,000 for Fall (400 hrs).
We have in-person and a limited number of virtual options for domestic or international opportunities for the Summer and Fall of 2024.
Questions? Contact us at StudentServe@cbf.net
Length of Internship: 10 weeks (this includes a required orientation and debriefing) starting mid/late May and ending early August.
Orientation: This event builds community among all CBF Student.Church and Student.Go interns, while also training and preparing interns to enter into their internship equipped with new skills and resources. Orientation is required. Orientation is tentatively scheduled for May 24-26, 2022, and will be held in person in the Atlanta, GA, area.
Debriefing: Students end their internship at a formal debriefing typically held at a retreat called Selah Vie. This experience is a necessary part of the process of transitioning back into student or work life. Selah Vie is being planned as an in-person event for the first week of August 2022.
Summer Finances: Student.Church interns are paid a minimum of $1200 (1/2 from church internship site and 1/2 from CBF). If the student serves in a CBF/GA church funds are added for the student from CBF/GA. In addition, CBF covers travel expenses to and from Orientation and Debriefing at Selah Vie and all costs associated with these events (if held in-person). The host church/site also covers housing (if needed) and expenses for all church-related activities while on the field.
The application deadline has passed for this year. Please check back next Fall for new opportunities to serve.
1. Review all the positions available by clicking here.
2. Choose your top three positions and note the reference numbers, you will need these when filling out the application.
3. Fill out the online application when available.
4. Download the participant covenant here. Please read and make sure you agree and are able to comply with requirements.
Church Application Information
Student.Church congregations are characterized as:
Churches that affiliate with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship through financial contributions, support of global mission personnel, participation in CBF events, programs, etc.
Churches that are seeking a relationship with CBF by actively engaging in conversation with CBF global staff, state and regional staff, or field personnel.
Churches that are looking for an opportunity to mentor young adults as they grow personally and professionally.
Churches that are already in conversation with a student to serve as their intern.
Churches that are open to having an intern placed in their setting.
How do churches apply?
Begin by reading the Student.Church Internship Guide for more details about the program.
Whether you are a returning or new applicant you will need to apply via the Church Application Form.
If you have already approached a young adult about serving as your intern, please include their information. If you have not identified someone to serve as your intern, you will be asked to specify in general what you are looking for and the type of work the intern will be doing.
Churches may apply to host only one intern through the Student.Church program. After the deadline has passed and contingent on fund availability, additional interns may be requested/funded.
If you have questions about the internship, contact our team .
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Being Salt and Light in the Year Ahead by Megan Turner Doud
HAVE YOU EVER sat down to a nice breakfast, taken a big bite of grits, and realized that salt had been left out of the grits? Not pleasant, right? Grits without salt are bland and boring. Just so, our lives as followers of Christ, without the light and seasoning of the gospel — the “good news” — are lackluster, not reflecting God’s love in the world.
The scriptures tell us about the importance of salt and light in our walk as Christians: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
CBFGA has exciting events planned for the rest of 2023 and into 2024, and our themes for this time will be Salt and Light! You will find these themes woven into our Fall Gathering and Youth Fall Retreat in 2023, and into our 2024 Children’s Retreat, Mission Madness, and Senior Adult Retreat.
Salt seasons and preserves, and light overcomes darkness and despair. As the light of the world, Jesus brings hope, truth, and LIFE. As salt in the world, Jesus brings pleasant seasoning to our lives together.
As we explore the themes of salt and light through upcoming CBFGA events, let us strive as Christ-followers to shine the message of Jesus and to be the salt and light our world needs, wherever we go and wherever we have influence.
I am looking forward to your children and students, along with our adults, learning more about what it means to be Salt and Light in our communities.
MEGAN TURNER DOUD, CBFGA Coordinator for Young Baptist Ministries, mdoud@cbfga.org
The Power of Listening and Sharing Stories-Megan Turner Doud, CBFGA Coordinator for Young Baptist Ministries
When Jody and I began having conversations about a year-long theme for CBFGA for 2023, “Story” was the first idea that came to my mind. From my time working in the local congregations, serving on the Ministries Council and Discovery Team for CBF, and being a part of the Youth Ministry Network board, storytelling has been a part of each conversation, of visioning, and of dreaming.
In Between the Listening and the Telling…How Stories Can Save Us, Mark Yaconelli discusses the importance of being able to tell your story. He says: I’ve observed how speaking our stories can liberate us individually and collectively — at times transforming residents into neighbors, enemies into friends, and towns into communities. In doing this work, it has become apparent to me that the power of story is the power of relationships. In other words, giving testament to our experience generates meaning when it connects us to people, the earth, the sacred, our pasts, and our own inner gifts and wounds. Through this work I’ve come to believe that all human divisions, both within and between us, can begin to be healed through listening and sharing stories…storytelling is the most intimate form of communication. It’s a way of inviting the listener to enter into what we have suffered, and what we have overcome. When we listen well to another’s story, it blooms within the body, creating an intimate connection between teller and listener —heart races, eyes well with tears, the belly shakes with laughter. And when we share something we have lived, a joy or suffering from in our own lives, the listener is invited into our very being: to see what we have seen, hear what we have heard, and touch what we have known…the story binds us to one another.
In this next year you will hear and experience CBFGA’s story. Our events for the year will be structured around our year-long theme. You will read and listen to our own fellowship’s story and how your story, our story, and God’s story impact each other and our communities.
- Our youth at their recent fall retreat learned what it means to live into their true story by “Being Real” and finding their true authentic selves in who they are, who they are in relationships, and who they are in their authenticity in their faith.
- The children at their January retreat will learn about different “Stories in the Bible” and how they can relate to and live into the story God has called them to be a part of.
- Also in January, young adults will travel to the mountains for a Young Adult Summit to gather with other CBF young adults in hopes of connecting and hearing each other’s stories and how God weaves our stories together.
- College students will travel to Washington, D.C., in March to be a part of Advocacy in Action. These students will have opportunities to learn from others’ stories and discover how to advocate for those who can’t always speak up for themselves in this world.
- Lastly, our youth will come together for a weekend of serving during Mission Madness in Columbus. They will spend a weekend in April in a new community, learning what it means to be the hands and feet of God in this world that needs love, compassion, and a listening ear. I hope that 2023, for you, provides opportunities to reflect on your own story. I hope you allow space to really see the person in front of you, not looking past and missing the opportunity to hear someone else’s story. And my prayer in all of this is that you see God at work in you, in others, and in our CBFGA communities.