Explore a career in ministry and develop your leadership skills.
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NEXT GEN LEADERS
About The Program
Crossroads Next Gen Ministry Leaders program has two phases to equip young leaders for high impact in the local church.
Program Offerings:
- Scholars Interns: Scholars Interns is an internship program for 20–25 year olds exploring ministry as a career. It’s a part-time, paid summer experience where you learn hands on ministry skills and help lead with a team at a Crossroads site.
- Co-ops: Co-ops provides a more in depth ministry development program for high potential young leaders, who have completed the Scholars Interns program. Co-ops is a full-time, paid ministry experience designed to equip young leaders with the skills and experience they need for maximum ministry impact.
Program History:
In 2016, Kathy Beechum, a strong leader and advocate within Crossroads, felt convicted to establish a pipeline program... to develop diverse young leaders in ministry. Brian Wells, an original Crossroads founder and current Spiritual Board member, developed and launched the initial Scholars program in the Fall of 2017. Scholars has now graduated 200+ alumni since its inception. The three guiding principles of Scholars are:
• Teach leadership skills to young adults early in their career.
• Develop diverse young leaders.
• Introduce ministry as a viable career option early on.
These guiding principles have remained the same but each year the program has continued to evolve and try new things. Starting in Fall 2024, we are excited to expand the Co-op portion of the program and re-brand the entire program under the new name of "Next Gen Ministry Leaders".
Meet the Team
DIRECTOR
Jai Haulk
With a combination of strong leadership skills, lots of ministry experience, and just a deep love for people, Jai leads the overall Next Gen Ministry Leaders program. He has one goal — to see the next generation of leaders be healthy for themselves and those that they lead. Jai is the husband of Angela, father of Isaiah and Lucy, but don’t forget about their two golden doodles (Arlo and Dude) along with their hedgehog (Miss Pricklepants). No one walks away feeling like a stranger to Jai so don’t hesitate to say Hi 👋, and let him know what your favorite donut is!
What Our Alumni are saying about Next Gen Leaders
Myles Edwards
"Scholars grew me both spiritually and professionally, allowing me to learn new ways of thinking and structuring my life to reflect Christ in all I do."
Olivia Acuna
"The Scholars program gave me endless opportunities to learn from Crossroads staff, and receive real responsibility with room to fail. Through the program my eyes were opened to see the leader God has created me to be."
DaManuel Montgomery
"I'm thankful that Scholars has given me skills that have helped me grow as an individual and in my professional life. This program will help design your life to look like Jesus and unique for yourself."
Emily Rebella
2022-2023 Scholar
"My internships with scholars gave me hands-on opportunities to work in different areas of ministry. Not only did I get to test the waters and see what I did and did not feel called toward, but it strengthened my belief that ministry is the career path for me!"
Abbey Allen-Wagner
2020-2021 Scholar
"My internship and fellowship through Crossroads helped me realize that I was being called to work in full time ministry. My role at Crossroads has allowed me to grow into my leadership, and it has been amazing to be on the team with other staff members who are just as passionate about bringing people closer to a God who loved them."
Caleb Sklena
2022-2023 Scholar
"The Scholars Internship helped me to apply many of my gifts and personality traits and the Scriptural teachings I had learned about during Scholars. It put me with a team and mentor that loved and cared for me well, and showed me the relational joy that comes with working with other Christ-followers. I got the honor and privilege of building into middle and high schoolers and ultimately, the Lord grew me so much through serving others in this Internship."
Peter Everett
2020-2021 Scholar
"My fellowship connected me with amazing leaders and teammates who pushed me both personally and professionally. My time with them has really changed me for the better."
NEXT GEN LEADERS
DIVERSITY IN LEADERSHIP
Crossroads diversity is about more than percentages. It’s about having male and female voices from diverse backgrounds in positions of leadership. We believe we are called to be a multi-ethnic church and our pastors and leaders are living proof. Likewise, we want our Next Gen Leaders to represent the Kingdom with diversity of ethnicity, gender, and personality.
Check out our Crossroads Jobs Page for more about Staff Diversity, Diversity in Leadership, Foundational Beliefs, Culture, and I Promise.
NEXT GEN LEADERS
Scholars Interns FAQs
What’s the timeline from when I apply through the rest of the program?
- January: Applications for the next class go live.
- January-April: Rolling applications and interviews for summer internship.
- June-August: Internship experience.
Is everyone accepted into the program?
The short answer is no. Seriously, we use the admission process to discern which candidates would be a good fit for this program. This program requires maturity, discipline, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to identify people genuinely interested in ministry as a potential career.
What are the time commitments for internships?
Intern work hours vary depending on the site and team they are placed with. They are generally able to get paid for 10-25 hours per week.
Do you have to attend Crossroads to apply for a Scholars Internship?
Not to apply. All are welcome to apply, but we expect you to be an active participant in Crossroads Church. We ask folks new to Crossroads to explore who we are and check out the "Seven Hills We Die On" before applying. If you like what you see, great! Please apply and then during the interview, we will dig into the commitment to the program and your engagement with Crossroads during it. Apply Now
NEXT GEN LEADERS
Co-ops FAQs
What’s the difference between Co-ops and Scholars Interns?
Co-ops are a full time, paid ministry experience, as opposed to interns, who work part time. Co-ops take the most high potential interns who are seriously considering ministry as a career. Co-ops is an opportunity to confirm a calling to ministry. Interns focus on the personal and leadership development of young adults and give them a chance to explore ministry as a potential career before being considered for a Co-op role.
Is everyone accepted into the program?
Acceptance into the Co-op program is based on ministry need and the right fit of each candidate. We will do our best to match candidates with the right ministry opportunity.
Do you have to attend Crossroads to apply to be a Co-op?
A part of the commitment to the program is being an active participant in Crossroads Church. We ask that you make Crossroads your home as you are equipped for ministry within our context.
Is this a paid or unpaid position?
A part of choosing a career in ministry is understanding financial sacrifice, that being said we try to offer competitive compensation vs. other church residency programs. In fact, it is a little above the norm because we don’t have housing associated. Don’t let housing deter you; we’ll try to help you secure housing if needed.
NEXT GEN LEADERS
CONTACT US
Please email us for questions or updates on future opportunities.
jai.haulk@crossroads.net