A Ministerial Internship of no less than six months is required by Meadville Lombard and the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee. Nine months (a full academic year) of full-time immersion in the supervised practice of ministry is recommended. Two-year, half-time arrangements can be made to meet this requirement.

A UU congregation is the usual site for students preparing for parish ministry and ministry of religious education. Internships cannot take place in a student’s home congregation. Students preparing for community ministry should have a significant parish component to their internships, but if they choose, they may add part-time internship placements in an institution or agency whose work is related to their future ministries.

It is sometimes possible to arrange a joint parish/community ministry internship. Generally residential students complete their internship requirement during their third year. This allows them time to integrate what they have learned with the course work of their final year; it also gives them the freedom to begin the search process before graduation.

Although there are a few internships in the Chicago area paying the UUA recommended internship compensation (no less than $1200/month), most residential students will need to consider internships removed from Chicago. Planning for internship begins at the end of the first year for residential students. Applications are due at internship sites by December of the second year. MRP students will not generally begin internship until the last year of their program. The field education coordinator works with students to research sites and assists them through the application process.