Integrative Reflection Report:

Internship at Mission Trails Church

Nicole Maria Lehar

I. Purpose.

Mission Trails Church is a Southern Baptist Church in Allied Gardens. A regular Sunday
hosts around 300 people in the span of three services. Kyle Walters is the pastor of this church
and along with Dominic Parry, the associate pastor, he is the main director and vision caster.
According to the 2020 budget report, there are two full-time staff and six part time staff, though
being a dynamic business, this number is subject to change. Additionally, there is a large number
of volunteers that compose the children ministry, worship and tech ministry, hospitality ministry
and more. Regardless of their official standing in the church, nearly all people involved are
dedicated to this mission: to glorify God and make disciples. As a church, everything done is
founded on the desire to lead people into a life-changing, personal relationship with Christ by
meeting the people wherever they are.
Kyle and Dominic have casted this vision to the volunteers: to be a place where un-
churched and de-churched people feel welcome and encouraged to transform. They hope to
accomplish this by implementing a thoughtful simplicity, inviting and supporting
intergenerational friendships, and acting out God’s truths.
II. Learning Activities – Description and Accomplishments.

Job duty 1: reaching out and conducting interviews. In order to accomplish the first learning
activity, I set up a one-hour meeting with Kyle and interviewed him to discuss the church’s
mission, vision, and strategies. Despite some technical difficulties involving a malfunction of my
laptop’s keyboard, the meeting was an overall success (I have notes of the interview and a memo
in appendix C); much of the information he gave made a solid foundation for the rest of my
assignments. After the meeting, I drew up a memo and sent it to my supervisor, Dominic, for his
insight on making a good memo as well as talking more about how this topic relates to the rest of
the internship.
At the end of the internship, my supervisor asked me to conduct an interview of him with the end
goal of learning about management and leadership during the pandemic. We set-up the interview
together, and I was responsible for composing the questions that would help him transfer that
information. I then wrote up the interview in a magazine format (submitted in appendix C).
Because of these assignments, I am confident in my ability to set up, execute, and summarize
interviews. This activity displayed my competency in gathering and compiling information. This
is how I will write it on my resume:

o Collaborated with others to achieve a common goal while communicating in a clear

and organized manner.
o Cultivated a solid understanding of company mission, vision and strategy statements.

Job duty 2: finding, collecting, and analyzing data. In order to accomplish this task, I
contacted Donna Grandi for a copy of the budget. I then took that data and separated it into the
categories that the mission and vision statements created; I asked myself the following questions:
“does this segment of the budget go directly toward producing discipleship?” (e.g. the mission),
and “does it go directly toward building a welcoming atmosphere?” (e.g. the vision). From there,
I decided the appropriate percentage that would indicate wise, congruent decision-making and
then calculated the percentages that go toward the mission or the vision and evaluated the budget
on that premise. This project was by-far the most fun that I had in the internship because of the
meticulous, clean nature of analyzing and summarizing (this entire process is attached in the
appendix).
Because this duty was primarily individual work and discovery, I was given a lot of freedom to
take it where I wanted to. This extra bit of responsibility gave me a bit more confidence going
forward in the internship.
With the experience I gained from calculating and analyzing the budget, I have learned how to
practically and objectively identify the amount of strategies implemented that relate to the goal.
This is how I will write it on my resume:

o Summarized and interpreted data accurately and paid attention to detail.

o Displayed proficiency with relevant computer applications (e.g. Excel, Word, etc.)
o Demonstrated an understanding of company budgeting statements

Job duty 3: learning crisis management tactics and strategies. I shadowed Dominic in his
dealings of various problems and learned from his problem-solving approach. These were the
main three problems we addressed: (1) adapting to the regulatory changes during the COVID-19
outbreak, (2) figuring out how to engage the congregation virtually, and (3) creating spaces for
people to feel comfortable and familiar with the ministry. From this, I learned to identify the key
activities that were threatened by the outbreak, brainstorm ways to keep them going, and do this
in a well-managed timeframe. This will help me manage crises in the future because I have a
good example to follow and learn from. I will be able to apply and demonstrate the flexibility he
displayed in adapting to diverse environments. This is how I will write it on my resume:

o Learned quick adaptation practices by being flexible and seeking opportunities to

learn.
o Helped identify goals, prioritize tasks, and manage time.
III. Personal Reflection.
I had a few personal objectives when I first started this internship. I was hoping to learn
more about how to manage a non-profit organization properly and gain practical experience. It
far exceeded my expectations, though it was cut short by extenuating circumstances. I learned
the mission and vision of the church (and saw how helpful building that concept in my own life
can be), I analyzed and wrote a report on the church’s budget, and received helpful tips on
writing reports in the business world. I also planned an event by coordinating with the volunteer
ministry leaders in the organization and rounding up a number of volunteers to help setup, and
though it was cancelled, I still learned a lot from the process leading up to that. Lastly, I learned
how to effectively manage a company in times of crises.

My main goal by the end of this internship was to know what job path to pursue. Inspired
by how the church’s mission and vision statements helped guide the decision-making process, I
wanted to create my own mission and vision statements for my professional and personal life.
During that process, I learned that I have a passion for doing ministry work and that I have a
strong desire to do this full-time. I ended up having a conversation with the director of my
college ministry, Kevin Thorsell, and that conversation gave me a good idea on what it would be
like to be a part of their team. It became clear to me, both in that conversation and this internship,
that my skills and attributes would be well-placed in college ministry. I am super excited for this
next stage in my life, and very blessed to have had tis internship. It gave me the stating-off point
for the rest of my personal ministry; it pushed me to take the steps I needed in order to know
what I was called to do. It is amazingly perfect that I got this internship at this time. It is as if it
was planned from the start, though I do not think anyone saw it coming.

During the course of this internship, I discovered I really like analyzing data and that I
have a skill for planning. The budget analysis assignment was actually quite fun and I enjoyed
making sense of all those numbers. I liked breaking it all down and synthesizing the most
important parts into the report. This was mentioned earlier in the report, but it is worth revisiting
the fact that I had been given much freedom when doing this task, and that is another positive of
the budget report.

Another task I considered valuable was connecting with the different volunteer leaders to
coordinate on what roles they needed to be advertised in the career fair. The assignment was
clear to me and though there were some challenges that I came across, I was able to handle them
with sound judgment. Planning and communicating were key attributes for that task and I really
enjoyed the planning aspect.

The communication aspect, however, was not very appealing to me. I felt uncomfortable
with the idea of addressing the leaders of each ministry at first because I had not met all of them
in person at the time. Thankfully, Dominic foresaw this and called a meeting for all the ministry
leaders including me. This made emailing them later much easier.

Another task that was not initially attractive in my eyes was tackling the issues that arose
from the pandemic. I found that kind of managing to be stressful and my role became slightly
ambiguous. I still found it a valuable experience, and my supervisor did all that he could to give
me the best learning experience possible.
 In terms of what I have learned in the internship, I experienced the fact that planning
takes a lot of practice and thought. That realization became real to me through this internship.
My main experience in planning things during this internship was for an event that had to be
cancelled due to the spread of COVID-19. It was a volunteer fair, and my main assignments
included communicating with and collecting info from the volunteer coordinators and helping
my supervisor design and format various resources for the event. I used past experiences and
advise to navigate composing emails and critical thinking when designing volunteer flyers. I
asked myself how I can make the flyer eye-catchingly simple while holding as much information
as possible. Knowing the mission and vision statement of the church guided me through nearly
every design I thought up, and every word I typed out.

I also learned a little bit about leading and managing people. My supervisor always
makes a point to check-in with people. He shows them that he cares for them and thus creates a
sort of social capital with them. He is also very hard-working, and passionate about every detail
because he wants to limit distractions to the overall message. In both those attributes, I learned
that having the social capital that comes with being relational allowed him the opportunity to
correct even the smallest mistakes with grace so that the final product is not damaged.

Another thing I saw was that the amount he worked reflected the quality in the
production. The church’s response during the COVID-19 pandemic gave Dominic more work to
do initially. I will be sure that I am passionate enough to give my all to the work I do even when
it commands more than I thought it would; I will need to be convinced that the end is worth a
season of hard work. The fact that I was engaged and happy to work for the church gave me the
confidence and conviction to commit to seeking a full-time ministry job.

In short, the specific, important leadership skills I found in my supervisor are relational
communication and a strong work ethic. I found that having a deep understanding of the mission
and a deep passion for seeing it come to fruition are critical for developing both of those skills.

During this internship, I engaged in evaluating and monitoring myself and I found that it
was very helpful to monitor my own performance so that I can be firmly rooted in fact when both
positive reflection of my work is put forth and constructive criticism. When my supervisor
pointed something out to me, I would be able to pick up what he saw and apply that same
thought process in the future. Because I was monitoring my performance, we were on the same
page. I was able to confidently accept the positive remarks he said about me and come to the
constructive observations with good discernment. I used to have a great deal of trouble with
discernment and self-evaluation because I have a tendency to deny my abilities and question my
talents. And while I am sure there are plenty of just accusations against me, I can stand on the
righteousness of Christ because I have been transformed by him. Therefore, this idea of
monitoring and evaluating my own performance needs to rest on who I am in Christ. It is this
solid ground that will be a basis of the mechanisms I will be using to self-monitor and self-
evaluate.

One mechanism I will be using in the future is conscientiously asking myself what I am
doing and whether this is the best implementation I can conceive of. Ideally, I can take the
evaluation outside mere opinion and orient myself around the facts of the situation. This will
help with some of my more natural self-defeating, and undermining thoughts which sometimes
trip-up my ability to soundly judge myself.

Another mechanism I can use to evaluate myself is consistently sitting myself down to ask
this deep question: why am I doing these things? In everything I do, the “why” reveals the true
nature of the “what.” Now in asking myself this, I am going to have to be careful not to bide into
the accusations that come from a relativistic sinkhole of moralism and self-condemnation. The
ideal answer to this question is that deep down my heart will be set on the Biblical principle of
loving God and wanting what he wants. But a reality that the Bible has been teaching me in this
past month is that I cannot always do this perfectly. Therefore, the most important mechanism
that I can use for self-evaluation is set my mind on the things above, confess when I have not
done this, and remember that the fact that I have control of my actions is all the necessary
evidence I need to know that I am an adopted child of God who does not stand in condemnation,
but instead has a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. With this mind-set, I will naturally
want to improve my performance and find new ways to do so.

I learned a lot about myself in terms of interpersonal skills. I learned that while I have a
lot of knowledge to share and lots of people who would be willing to listen, I need to work on
my presentation skills to communicate things with a balance of effectiveness and relational-ness.
My supervisor noted that I have grown a lot in the past year with my ability to speak at an
audible volume. It used to be the case that he would get a lot of comments about how quite my
voice was, but since then, I have grown to raise my voice despite of some of the fears I have in
doing so. Another thing my supervisor noted was my mannerisms. He suggested that I record
myself speaking and correct some of my nervous tendencies.

I learned in this internship that I have excellent written communication and that I am
good at establishing a good reputation to build networks. I am good at collaborating and my
supervisor has said on multiple occasions that I am a good team player. Overall, I am pleased to
say that I have acceptable interpersonal skills.

The areas I can improve upon are (as previously mentioned) my presentation skills,
specifically, training my voice to be louder and to have a good tone, and developing mannerisms
that communicate the interest I genuinely feel.

The workplace diversity is present in the backgrounds and life experiences of everyone
working there. Few people have had the same family experiences as another, and the same goes
to their experience in the church. Because everyone is different in this way, the benefits that we
receive are getting new and different perspectives on all situations. We have a good, diverse
sample of the congregation that will accurately indicate what and how they will think.

Normally in high diverse workplaces there is a difficulty in agreement and

communication. For the most part, there were not disagreements on actions or strategies, though
when we thought about something from a different perspective, it was welcomed and encouraged
to be shared. As for communication on the team, everyone there is aware that each person comes
with a different story, so that is very present in everyone’s minds. Overall, there is a strong sense
of unity on the team. As Christians, the Bible counts us all as members of the body, meaning that
we are all meant to serve in different ways and be different people, but that we are all united
under one head, Christ.

Over the course of the semester, I attended five virtual workshops sponsored by the San
Diego State University Career services. The first one I signed up for was “Stress Management”
on April 8, at 8:30am. The workshop had the main focus of helping students identify and manage
stress. I learned some good breathing techniques and the speaker talked a little about
physiological indications of stress that will help me identify it in the future. This will help me
long-term in my career because being able to manage stress well will benefit my capacity to
work, the quality that I put out, and my overall attitude in the workplace.

The second workshop I went to was “Resume Basics Lab” on April 14, at 1:00pm, and it
was a 30-minute lab that covered resume basics. They reviewed some basic tips such as keeping
it concise and in one page, and the speaker relayed some valuable information about how
employers read the resume. What I saw in this workshop will help me write my resume that will
in turn give me many options in the future.

The third workshop was “Effective Interviewing Tips” on April 22, at 11:00am. This
workshop focused on giving students interviewing tips in these strange times. They talked about
staying motivated and continuing the job search, as well as some insightful facts about the
interviewing process. The most memorable thing they said was that I need to practice
interviewing with someone. I really need to know what I can add to a company backwards and
forwards. Though I already have a career in mind (and my acceptance of said career is now
pending) I know I can apply this knowledge day-to-day. This knowledge can help me feel
confident in my place at the organization.

The fourth one I attended was “Graduating, Now What?” on April 23, at 3:30pm, which
helped emphasize the points in the workshop about interviewing. It was more broad, however, as
it covered multiple steps that students can take after graduation and not just tips for interviewing.
This will ensure that I can have options for my career path. Because I know about the things said
in this workshop, I have awareness of my options moving forward.

The fifth and final workshop sponsored by Career Services was “Internship 301: Be a
Successful Intern” on April 28, at 2:00pm talked about applying the knowledge I received during
the internship. The speaker urged the students to ask themselves to think about the things they
have learned through their internships and think of specific ways they can apply them in the
careers they are seeking. In my case, I can apply the facts that I have learned about the business
world to help managing, organizing and planning events once I establish myself in the college
ministry I am hoping to work for.

Now in regards to the business panel discussion that took place on the 24th of February,
one of the takeaways that I got from it was Rachel Snook’s suggestion to personalize the resume
by adding a photo and handing that – along with a cover letter – to someone in the company in
person. It stuck out to me because I was always told by my academic writing professors not to
include a photo, therefore, I had a hesitation to do that. Rachel’s argument was that it will help
recruiters put a face to the student’s work experience. This makes a lot of sense with my
(admittedly brief) interview experience. I found that it was hard to get my interviewer to
remember what made me special. And so, with that hesitation resolved by Rachel’s argument,
something else that made this suggestion memorable was the imagery that was conjured when
she spoke of handing the resume and cover letter in person. That really would not have occurred
to me because of the ease and efficiency of sending in an electronic copy. It was a very good
point because doing that shows an interest in being hired that goes beyond efficiency.

The second key takeaway that I got from the panel is one that came directly after the
point that Rachel had just made. Matthew Gullory said that employers want to make sure that
their recruits are not shy or timid, but people who will really take initiative and ask questions.
This stood out to me because of how difficult this will be for my naturally timid and shy
personality. I know that this is a tendency I can overcome, but the difficulty of doing so increases
as fear increases. The solution in my case is to become braver; to remind myself that I am not a
servant to fear. Perhaps this might sound a bit exaggerated, but I mean it sincerely. Matthew
made a good point. He made it clear that no student can get by without being able to put
themselves out there, and for me that will take a bit more effort.

Lastly, in regards to the SkillSurvey feedback report, I learned so much from that
evaluation. My supervisor took the time to fill it out with me so that he could give me that
feedback face to face. The main key takeaway from the report was that I have grown the capacity
to accomplish whatever I set out to do. I have seen first-hand how I have changed, how I have
been made anew, through the power of Christ. Before, I had no confidence in the abilities God
gave me, but now I can see the fruit in my life. Before, the Enemy would accuse me, but now I
know Christ has redeemed me and I can trust that I will not fall into evil.
IV. Conclusion.

The internship was incredibly valuable to me because of the experience it offered, the
knowledge it taught me, and the strengths in me that it revealed. The internship allowed me to
experience a taste of being a professional businessperson by having a supervisor, assigned tasks,
and quite a bit of responsibility. Because I had the benefit of being supervised by Dominic Parry,
who was formally a financial consultant, I was given quite a bit of knowledge about the business
world – what to expect career-wise, and what other people in that field tend to be like. In terms
of the strengths I discovered through the internship, I noticed three main things I wish to discuss
here. I noticed that I tend to take a critical approach to claims, that I am technically capable, and
on a more serious note, that I am a stronger person in God than I first thought I was.
The internship, the business panel discussion, and the various workshops complemented
each other as they all hit on certain leadership qualities and other various foundational themes
that I have been learning throughout my academic career here at San Diego State. The business
panel was helpful because I got to learn more about the employer’s perspective when looking for
an employee, and how to conduct myself in the interview. The workshops were helpful too; they
reinforced a lot of the topics discussed in our business panel discussion, and built on them by
adding detailed next steps.
V. Elevator Pitch.

You need a young, organized, zealous worker for your cause, and I am that person. I am fresh
out of college; I have experience with planning events and managing crises; and I am very
passionate about the work you’re doing so I would very much like to be involved vocationally. I
have a degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University and I have interned at
my local church where I planned a volunteer fair, kept up with events and safety regulations in
light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and adapted to a multitude of situations during that time.
When my prior supervisor needed a skilled individual to help work out the technical details to
keep the church functioning, I was to first to come and the last to leave. I think I would make a
great addition to your organization because of my analytical skills, my initiative, and my
dedication. I have a great love for the vision that you have in your organization – to serve the
students of San Diego State University by making the Gospel known and raising disciples. I
would really love to be on staff. Please consider making a place for me on your team.
VI. Reduced hours portion.

Prompt a:
The original plan involved planning a volunteer fair, volunteer appreciation party, and a
volunteer training program, but due to the government restriction, all of these things had to be
cancelled. Dominic and I discussed possible replacement plans and decided to remove those two
from the learning activities worksheet entirely and resubmit it with an alternative activity – I
would learn management tactics and strategies in organizations during periods of uncertainty.
This way, I would learn how to decern the pivot point of the organization and see how it was
able to continue its mission and achieve its vision.
We were just a week away from the volunteer party when all of the scare started to affect
attendance. Pastor Kyle, Dominic, and I all agreed to post-pone the volunteer fair since
attendance would most likely be poor and we figured that there would be a stay-in order that
would make the transition with the new volunteers awkward. In the end, we all agreed that this
event would render the fair completely ineffective.
As for the volunteer appreciation party, that was going to happen after Easter, but with
everything so up in the air, we decided to cancel that all together. Another reason we decided to
quit that is because of the amount of work and responsibility that was created by having to
change the most fundamental activities that the church provides.
The volunteer training program that was originally planned for in internship had reasons
outside the pandemic that was affecting its production, though the pandemic was the main reason
this objective became implausible. We have a few systems that are going to update soon, and it
just did not make sense to make a tutorial for a system that will soon be outdated and completely
different. I should add that the updates are not small. In this case, if we did decide to make the
tutorial, we would have to change it significantly.
Other than the cancelled plans, another change that followed the pandemic was the
increase in intensity, hours, and ambiguity of my position. Things did not get to the point of
being stressful, but the level of importance and attention to detail increased. Because of that
increased intensity, the number of hours that I worked per week increased. I would be at the
church sometimes all day, shadowing my supervisor and helping him solve the logistic problems
that go with becoming a completely virtual church.
The last thing that the pandemic had an effect on was the amount of time my supervisor
had to meet with me weekly and evaluate my performance. Thankfully, it did not make a big
impact on the internship overall, though I did have to adjust and make sure I was keeping my eye
on what mattered.

Prompt b:
I found that I have a calming clarity in the face of radical changes. These are the words of
my supervisor before my internship, and I’ve come to see this in action during the internship.
The COVID pandemic threw off our original plan and required a substantial amount of time and
effort. Those first couple of weeks especially made everything uncertain, I definitely did not
know what to expect. But I feel as though I acted calmly and kept a stable mindset during work.
My eye was set in the moment, but my mind was set on the good, unfailing future that God has
planned for me.
I am adaptable and I know this because even when the entire model of the internship
changed, I still stepped up, still helped troubleshoot issues, came early and stayed late. Knowing
that I could serve the church in this time, I made it a priority in my day. I was calm, so I kept a
good attitude too. The adaptability pointed to a strong work ethic. I allowed this internship to
form my weeks, despite all the other things I could be doing.
I found that I am a passionate person. I invested a lot of time in the internship and, again,
made it a priority. Who would do that by rationality alone? I didn’t have a lot to gain from doing
that, and in fact the time I put into this internship could have been spent in the other areas of my
life. But it meant something for me to be there, so I made time for it. Passion for the mission
guided me.
I also discovered that my most valuable, practical skill is my strong organizational
ability. My supervisor wrote this as a strength in my career readiness report “she is strong in
complex systems and multitasking. She’s a quick learner and not afraid of challenging obstacles
or things that intrigue her learning.” None of these things would have revealed themselves if I
wasn’t organized. I kept my mind in order, my body was in a good routine, and I kept a spiritual
routine as well. Because of these things, I was able to instill order in my life and thus profit from
understanding my surroundings.

Prompt c:
I discovered through my supervisor that I need to work on building relational capital
since I have a natural tendency to be more “efficient,” by which I mean that I tend to forget to
affirm volunteers of their work and be more direct and to-the-point. The cost of this is that
volunteers might think of me as cold and are less likely to follow my instruction. Another cost of
this behavioral fault of mine is that volunteers are more likely to feel burnout. It is very
important for me to remember that the volunteers need tons of relational support and should
never be treated like employees. They should always be thanked and should always be given the
time to chat and hang out.
Another thing I need to be working on is my presentation skills. I have a very timid
voice, so I need to call on some power if I desire to be heard. My supervisor said that I have a lot
to share, but that I need to work on making it effective. So volume is one aspect I need to have
more discipline in. Another is style. This kind of goes back to the relational concept above, but
the style in which I communicate to other people currently reflects a very straight-to-business
attitude. I can improve upon that by consciously putting a bit more effort into letting people
know that I care for them and that I care about their opinions. The last thing about my
presentation skills is that I am often reactive. I tend to react to things after the fact rather than
proactively track them and prevent them from needing a response.

Analysis essay:
Mission Trails Church is a Southern Baptist church in Allied Gardens. MTC Is pastored
by Kyle Walters and Dominic Parry and has three services every Sunday, and regular attendance
is around 300 people. In addition to the Sunday services, the church supports eleven “growth
groups” throughout the week. Lastly, every once and a while, they offer seasonal Bible studies
with a topical focus. Strategies can be inferred from the mission and vision statements of MTC,
which establishes a focus on “un-churched” and “de-churched” people, hospitality, and
encouraging Biblical literacy in the congregation. MTC has a modern aesthetic, a fair-sized
campus, and a plethora of community outreach programs. As of February of this year, this
church has two full-time staff and six part-time staff.
Grace Assembly is a non-denominational church in Allied Gardens that typically hosts
around 30 people. This church is pastored by Gerald and Jolene Cooley and Robert Stansberry,
and they are the only staff on the campus. They have two services on Sunday, and two Bible
studies throughout the week, one on Sunday morning and one on Wednesday evening. Their
focus, as inferred from their mission statement and their website, is on the “end-times.” The
message that they seem to put at the front is that there will soon be an end to this life. Grace
Assembly has an early 1990s to 2000s aesthetic, has a reasonably-sixed campus, and does not
have a strong community presence.
Palisades Presbyterian Church is located in Allied Gardens and has one service every
Sunday morning. PPC is currently pastored by Gary and Rosalind Ziccardi though they seem to
be there on a transitional basis. The church offers four fellowship groups. According to their
mission statement, they place their faith above all works. Their website outlines a sort of
bureaucratic system, there are committees and sub-committees. This church also has an early
1990s to 2000s aesthetic, has a reasonably-sixed campus, and does not have a strong community
presence.
Mission Valley Christian Fellowship is a church in Allied Gardens that has two services
throughout the week, one on Sunday morning, and one on Wednesday evening. The church is
pastored by Rob Cobb and Frank Giovinetti. Along with the Sunday services, MVCF has six
Bible study groups and several marriage and home fellowships. Lastly, this church offers
seasonal Bible studies. According to their vision statement, MVCF is a Bible-based church with
a focus on spreading Biblical teaching, helping those both in and outside the church, and
outreach. MVCF has a very modern “vibe,” a large campus, and a strong community presence.
The Rock Church has many locations in San Diego. This church has locations in Point
Loma, San Marcos, East County, San Ysidro, City Heights, and many more microsites
throughout the city. Because of its many locations, the Rock has many pastors, associate pastors
and so on. Their website is very easy to navigate and is very inviting. Each location holds many
events and is quite unique due to its resources and scale.

Mission Trails Church has suspended all events and in-person programs and has
increased its online presence. They have a recording session with essential personnel only on
Thursday nights and release the recording on Sunday morning at 8am, the usual time of the first
service. In addition to the non-traditional church service, there are Zoom group meetings that
take place of the usual growth groups. These meetings essentially function as an in-depth look
into the sermon of that week and as a discovery study session for those who are interested in
learning about what the Bible has to say about Christianity.
 The timeline went much like this: the first two weeks of March were still in person,
however social distancing and sanitary precautions were taking place. The church was already
livestreaming at this time because leadership was aware that there would be many at-risk
members who would still want to participate in congregational worship. It was at the end of the
second week of March when Dominic and Kyle made the decision to suspend events through to
June at the least. This included the Volunteer Fair, the volunteer appreciation project, and the
volunteer training portion of my internship. After that, the church’s main focus has been to
streamline and improve the production of the Sunday recordings. Every leadership decision has
been made in order that the church remains as welcoming and hospitable to as many people
possible.
Grace Assembly has suspended all meetings since March 15th and decided to begin a
Zoom meeting for their entire congregation beginning April 7th. They haven’t made much of
their communication in public, and Pastor Jolene has admitted in the interview I conducted with
her that they were not able to make online preparations prior to discovering Zoom through a
family member. In sum, Grace Assembly’s reaction is indicative of their small staff and their
point of view is that the pandemic changes were abrupt and unpredictable.
Palisades Presbyterian Church, like Grace Assembly, did not have the resources to keep
up regular services with their congregation. They have yet to update their webpage, and are not
easy to contact. They have started to record their sermons and post them on their webpage.
Again, like Grace Assembly, PPC found the governmental changes too abrupt to prepare and
have only recently started to record their sermons.
Mission Valley Christian Fellowship’s response to the virus is very similar to MTC’s.
They suspended all in-person activities, though they continue their Sunday service sessions along
with key Bible study sessions. They seem to be planning more as the weeks go on, for instance,
their website states that they have a youth Bible study coming in early May. On the whole, their
reaction was swift, however they are still not functioning at maximum capacity.
The Rock Church has adapted to these radical changes by going completely online. All
the locations’ webpages redirect to the same sermon page (a point of unity, I am sure), and each
campus continues to host their events online. They had a relatively quick turnaround in their
transition to going fully online. This is largely impart of the resources they have at their disposal.

Mission Trails Church found a way to continue fulfilling its mission statement, though it
involved a heavy process of adaptation. Because of the church’s dedication to keep everyone
connected, its future looks bright despite the troubles it is having now. Currently the para-
ministry that MTC supports, Challenge SDSU, the college ministry, is taking advantage of the
extra time most people seem to have on their hands. The staff at Challenge are heavily
encouraging its members to reach out and connect with many people to share the Gospel. In
terms of finding new ways to operate, MTC has previously seen that the ability to connect people
on a deeper level limited by the current modes of communication, however, with this experience
it might be more fair to say that it’s harder to connect with people as frequently as they once did.
 With Grace Assembly, there are clearly large problems at hand. Most of them at at the
fundamental level of structure that they have established for themselves. The first tis that the
only staff that minister to the church regularly are the four pastors of the church, who have
similar background, beliefs, and pitfalls technologically speaking. Pastor Jolene made a point to
say in the interview that they will not be holding any protests and that they will be in complete
compliance with the authorities, but that she hopes this ends soon. This seems to be one of the
two strategies they are implementing, the other being Zoom meeting congregational worship. It
took them weeks to find Zoom. In my interview with Pastor Jolene, she mentioned that they did
not have time to prepare anything for their congregations, and it seems that all functions of that
church stopped because of the stay-in order. Because their presence relied so heavily on in-
person meetings, it is likely that their tithes have gone down. At its current state, Grace
Assembly does not seem to have a sustainable structure.
Much like Grace Assembly, PPC had a rough transition due to the stay-at-home order.
They were unprepared for setting up an online presence and keeping the congregation together.
In this case, much of the poor leadership might be due to the fact that they were already in the
middle of a transition between pastors. Their current pastors are interims, and have not seemed to
have established any long-term goals. PPC also does not seem to have a sustainable structure.
Mission Valley Christian Fellowship, in contrast to Grace Assembly PPC, had a smoother
transition in this crisis. They had quite the online presence to begin with and because of their
diverse set of staff and volunteers they were able to livestream their Sunday services and Bible
studies. Bothe MVCF and MTC were able to re-define their key activities in keeping align with
their mission. They were both adaptable enough that even a blow to their traditional channels of
distribution did not stop the Sunday services from continuing.
Much in the same way, the Rock Church had a smooth transition into our current
situation. In fact, their transition might have been smoother due to vast number of resources and
their already widely established online presence. According to a FOX5 news report, the Rock
Point Loma hosted its first online-only service on March 15th and even had San Diego Mayor,
Kevin Faulconer, as well as other important voices of San Diego to give a few updates on the
situation.
In conclusion, it is clear that Mission Trails Church, Mission Valley Christian
Fellowship, and the Rock Church was able to adapt and maintain relevance during this crisis.
Palisades Presbyterian Church and Grace Assembly, however, are going to struggle primarily
because of their lack of leadership, and then because of their lack of resources and relatively
small size.
 Bibliography

1. https://www.missiontrailschurch.com
2. https://www.graceassemblysandiego.com
3. http://www.palisadespresbyterian.org
4. https://www.mvcf.com
5. https://www.sdrock.com/
6. Interview with Pastor Jolene (notes in Appendix D)
7. https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/local-churches-move-services-online/
8. https://www.10news.com/news/coronavirus/san-diego-church-sues-county-saying-stay-
at-home-order-is-unconstitutional
9. Interview with Dominic Parry (notes in Appendix D)
10. Interview with Kyle Walters (notes in Appendix B, proof 2)
Appendices
Appendix A: Project or Learning Activity Contract
Course Project or Learning Activity Contract (Copies of original submitted to
Professor)

Appendix B: Proof of Completing Activities

• Supporting material for first completed project activity or learning objective
(Proof 1) emails setting up the meeting
(Proof 2) my initial notes during the meeting

(Proof 3) the memo I wrote about the meeting

• Supporting material for second completed project activity or learning objective
(Proof 1) notes of supervisor’s instruction and budget notes
(Proof 2) memo of my findings
• Supporting materials for third completed project activity or learning objective
(Proof 1) interview notes
(Proof 2) memo summarizing problems and solutions
(Additional proof 3) Interview assignment
Appendix C: Supervisor’s Evaluation
• Supervisor’s Evaluation on official company letterhead and signed by the
supervisor
▪ Total hours worked (120 minimum) (50 minimum)
▪ Assessment of satisfactory completion of Course Contract requirements
▪ Other comments seemed appropriate to indicated the level and quality of
effort
• Supervisor and Peer Evaluations downloaded from SkillSurvey
Appendix D: Additional References
• Notes from my interview with Pastor Jolene of Grace Assembly on May 1, 2020
at 3:00pm
• Notes from my interview with Dominic Parry on April 14, 2020 at 3:30pm