2024-2025 Interns

Hey everyone!

As I wrap up this incredible internship, I just want to take a moment to reflect on what an amazing journey it’s been. These past months have been filled with growth, learning, new experiences, and powerful moments of connection. I’m so grateful for the people who have supported me throughout this time. Your encouragement has meant the world to me.

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from my internship:

August: The Journey Begins

At the start of the internship, I felt comfortable and excited. I quickly realized how impactful this experience would be, both in my leadership and my faith. We began with classes focused on task management, personal well-being, and sharing our testimonies. Each one helped lay a strong foundation for the months to come.

We also had our DreamTeam Launch at the Perrysburg campus, which was an incredible night of learning, fun, and serving. Getting to help out with the Tonight Show themed event and watching the team come together was such a joyful moment.

September: A Defining Moment (Man Camp)

In September, I was invited last-minute to Man Camp, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. Even with some wild weather, worshiping with 3,000 men, diving into God’s Word, and having honest, vulnerable conversations in small groups was life-changing. I learned that I’m not alone in this journey and that trusting God’s plan means letting go of control.

October: Stepping Into Leadership

October was all about transition. With David stepping away, I stepped into a greater leadership role in Student Ministries at Whitehouse. David mentored me so well, and I’m incredibly thankful for everything he poured into me. One thing he told me that stuck was: “You may never be ready, but you can always be prepared.” Thank you for everything David!

This season showed me that I can adapt, and that I have a community around me for support. We also had powerful internship classes covering topics like spiritual disciplines, likability, and how to have crucial conversations. Thankfully all these skills I’m now using daily in leadership.

November: Connection and Creativity

In November, we visited several CedarCreek campuses (Whitehouse, Oregon, and West Toledo) and it was eye-opening to see how each one has its own unique culture. The pastors and people at each campus taught me so much.

Our intern classes tackled apologetics and tithing, both areas where I had little knowledge before. Learning why we believe what we believe, and how generosity plays a role in growing the Church, really deepened my understanding.

In Student Ministries, the At the Movies series was a hit! I even got to create my own video and teach, which was a blast and nerve racking. We also had our SLG (Student Leadership Group) retreat at the Findlay campus, which gave me the chance to connect with students from all over and hear their stories. That night was full of games, worship, and powerful conversations about evangelism from Daniel Rose. 

December: Serving in New Ways

December brought a festive close to the year. We had our Intern Christmas Party, where we exchanged gifts and had a great time bonding. (Shoutout to Shawn Bellner for ending up with the blanket I brought!)

I also had the chance to serve in Kids Ministry during the seven Christmas services at Whitehouse. It was such a fun and different experience and I loved helping kids learn through games, crafts, and storytelling. I met so many new families and appreciated the chance to serve alongside a new team.

January: Deepening Leadership and Faith

January marked the six-month point of the internship and it was hard to believe how fast it flew by! We kicked things off with the return of High School Midweek, and my team has been absolutely amazing. They’ve stepped up, supported me, and created an environment where students feel valued and want to grow. I’m so proud of them.

We also had our overnight retreat, where we unplugged from phones and focused on God. We read the book of James, wrote encouraging notes to each other, and reflected on gratitude and identity. It was powerful and grounding, and I’d absolutely do it again.

February: New Perspectives

February was full of exciting experiences. We hosted PREACH OFF, which was so much fun to plan and lead. Watching students share their hearts and seeing the entire DreamTeam come together made the whole event unforgettable.

Later in the month, we traveled to Chicago as a class. We visited Mission Church and Willow Creek, attended services, toured facilities, and met with ministry leaders. One of the highlights was visiting Willow Creek’s student service and seeing students worship, connect, and learn made a big impact on me.

We explored downtown Chicago, visited The Bean, had deep-dish pizza at Giordano’s, and tasted the famous Garrett’s Popcorn, which really is as good as they say!

March: Growth and Leadership Development

In March, we welcomed Reuben Hagedorn as our new Apprentice Student Director at Whitehouse. It’s been an honor to lead alongside him. His energy and love for students are out of this world, and I’ve already learned a lot from him.

Our team also attended a Student Ministry Conference in Indianapolis. We connected with leaders from all over the country, attended sessions on spiritual leadership, emotional intelligence, resilience, and even a unique session on leveraging AI for good. The best part? The one-on-one conversations at the tables where we learned from each other and encouraged one another in ministry.

Looking Ahead

This internship has truly transformed me in how I lead, how I follow Jesus, and how I connect with others. I've grown in confidence, communication, spiritual depth, and leadership, and I’m so grateful for every person who has encouraged me, mentored me, prayed for me, and believed in me along the way.

I’m excited to share that my next step is the Apprenticeship at CedarCreek! I applied back in March and was thrilled to be accepted. This new season will be another incredible opportunity to learn, grow, and lead on an even deeper level.

I’ll be heading to the West Toledo campus, where I’ll continue investing in the next generation in helping students grow in their relationship with God, just as others have poured into me.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Your support has made all the difference.

This month has been all about learning and new experiences. First, we welcomed a new student director at Whitehouse, Reuben Hagedorn. It has been incredible to lead alongside him and witness the impact we’re making in students' lives. He brings so much energy, and it’s inspiring to see how God is working in his life.

This month was a really fun month, and sadly, it has come to an end fast. At the beginning of February, we had PREACH OFF! Preach Off this year was really fun, from the planning, the decorating, and then finally the service. It was a wonderful experience for the students since they got to watch it as well. The DreamTeam was wonderful that whole weekend from all ministries. It was truly amazing to see everyone work together to provide an amazing experience for the people walking through the doors of the church.

Later in the month, as a class, we traveled to Chicago. On Saturday, we got to visit a church called Mission Church and watch their Saturday service. It was a good experience to meet the staff, see how they all work together, and get a tour of the building. They are actually building a new auditorium because they are reaching the limit of their existing auditorium, which is the best problem to have.

On Sunday, we went to Willow Creek and watched their 9 am service. Afterwards, we took a tour of the building, and it was amazing to see, from how big the kids and student areas are, to the fact that they have two auditoriums—one in English and the other in Spanish. After the tour, we stayed for the 11 am service, and I got to watch the students' service. It was truly amazing to watch how all the students were interacting—hanging out, playing games, worshiping, and also participating in the message/small group. At the end of the service, I got to connect with the student director, and she gave me some really good ideas for student ministries. It was an amazing time at Willow Creek overall.

On Monday, we got to go downtown and tour the city. We got to see things like the Willis Tower and The Bean. After the tour, we went to Giordano’s to have deep-dish pizza because you can't go to Chicago without getting pizza. After we ate, we went to The Bean and took some pictures. Before we left Chicago, we had to get some Garrett’s Popcorn, which Lauren Snyder says is life-changing popcorn, and I thought it was just popcorn, but it is truly the best popcorn I have ever had.

Overall, the trip was an amazing experience for me to visit other churches and see how they do things, but also come up with ideas to bring back to students at CedarCreek. February was truly a blast for me, and I can't wait to see what God has planned for me in the future. Thank you all for the support!

January has been a wonderful start to the new year. I can't believe we are already six months into the internship! It has been amazing every step of the way. In the first week of January, we started back up with our High School Midweek, which has been a blast for my team, the students, and me. Watching the students invest in growing their faith during high school has been truly inspiring, especially when it's freezing cold out and they’re still showing up. My team for Midweek has really stepped up since the transition, and they are a joy to lead with. They love being there for the students and helping them grow in their faith. They are also great at giving me feedback on my talks and suggesting ways to improve Midweek for both the students and the team. I’m just so proud and grateful for the team and the ways they’ve helped both me and the students grow. I wouldn’t want to be around any other group of people.

We also just wrapped up our overnight retreat, where we spent time alone trying to grow closer to God. It was truly an amazing experience for me, especially since we didn’t use our phones. It gave me a break from the outside world. Luckily, we had some activities to keep us engaged. We read through the book of James and shared insights from each chapter, wrote encouraging notes to one another, and it was humbling to hear what others had to say about us. We also wrote down three things we like about ourselves, which turned out to be harder than I expected, and we listed 40 things we’re thankful for, which was surprisingly difficult to come up with! Overall, it was a fantastic experience for me to relax and grow in my faith. I’m really glad I did it and would definitely do something like that again.

Thank you all for the continued support and encouragement throughout my journey!

December was a busy but fun month. We had our intern Christmas Party where we got to connect with one another, as well as our mentors and supervisors.  We did a gift exchange and funny enough Shawn Bellner got my gift(It was a blanket). We also finished our 7 Christmas services at Whitehouse. I got to help out in Kids ministry for a change and it was a really good experience for me. It was fun leading with a different group of people and how they do things differently from student ministry. Helping all the kids have fun playing games, doing crafts, and learning in a different way than what I used to was a good experience. It was amazing meeting all the new families and the ones that come every week. December was an amazing month and I can't wait to see what the future holds! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thank you all!

Hey everyone,

This month has been a really good month for me. I got to meet a lot of new people and learn/grow in different areas of my life. Here are some things that I learned/did this month:

1. We got to visit the rest of the CedarCreek campuses:
   • We visited Whitehouse, Oregon, and West Toledo. It was really cool to see the different cultures/environments that all the campuses have. I got to meet some new people and learn about their journey with CedarCreek. I also learned a lot from the campus pastors and unique things about each campus. 
2. Intern Classes:
   • #1: We learned from Andy Rectenwald about Apologetics. Apologetics is to prepare a defense; knowing why you believe what you believe. Reading scripture and looking for the main point. Also learned how you would recommend studying the bible. The incorrect way is trying to make it fit what you think you already know. Then the correct way is to show up with curiosity and openhandedness for what God has to teach. Be willing to consider that your interpretation could be wrong. All things that I didn't know beforehand so it was really cool to finally learn about it.
   • #2: Learned from Luke Shortridge about Tithing. This was mostly new to me because I didn't really know anything about it before this class. For example in the interview process I got asked about it and I had to ask what tithing was. What I learned was that giving is a huge part of the church and why giving can make a big impact to help grow the church. Also that we should be grateful that we are where we are because we have it better than others even if we think we don't.
3.  Student Ministries:
   • #1: At The Movies has been a really fun series for me and the students. From doing my own video/teaching and watching the students enjoy the videos and have fun. It has been really amazing to see.
   • #2: SLG Retreat - We took some of our SLG students (Student Leadership Group) down to our Findlay campus and spent the night there. We had 2 messages from Daniel Rose and played a lot of games throughout the night. I got to hangout with my students from Whitehouse and hangout with the student team but I also got to meet a lot of new students from other campuses. I sat with students that I didn't know and we got to learn from each other about evangelism. We also got to share our testimonies with each other which was really cool to hear each other's stories and how they are all unique in their own ways. It was overall just an amazing experience for everyone involved and I can't wait for the next one!

Thank you all for the support and encouragement throughout my internship!

-Austin Bellmore

Hello there, 

The month of October has been an interesting month for me. One experience that I have been going through is with David leaving. It is a big change because we have been a duo for like 4 years. Taking on the leadership role of student ministries at Whitehouse and leading a team in a different point of view is a little different. He developed me very well into the leader that I am and prepared me well to be able to complete what needs to be done. As David said to me "You may never be ready but you can always be prepared". It's not a whole lot different but it is a change that I am going through but luckily I'm not alone in it. I just want to thank David for everything he has done for me. In growing my leadership and just overall as a person. Where I am at now is a lot different than where I was before knowing him in all areas of my life. I wouldn't be where I am without him. I really appreciate it a lot. So what I have learned about me through this experience is that I am able to adapt to change well and that I have many people around me that I can go to for support when I need it. 

I have also learned a lot from the internship classes we have been having. Here are quick summaries of what we have been learning together each week for the past month:

1. We went to the 577 foundation and got to learn about some of the spiritual discipline. it helped me take some next steps into developing some of the spiritual practices. 
2. We watched a video from Vanessa Van Edwards about likability. The questions we went over were What makes me likable? How could I grow in likability? How can we equip our teams to help the people we serve feel more likable? 
3. We watched a video from Joseph Grenny about crucial conversations. We learned how to have those conversations and also why we need to have those crucial conversations to benefit and grow in certain areas.
4. This class we came up with different crucial conversations scenarios and got to practice have those conversations with each other. We practice them one on one then practiced them in front of everyone. 

I want to thank you all for the continued support and encouragement through my internship journey. Can't wait to continue to see what God has planned for me in the future! 

Hello there,

The end of September has been a crazy adventure for me. I got to go to Man Camp with a group of guys down by Cincinnati. Man Camp was the 27th-29th, so only 3 days. I wasn't even going to go like a month ago but Jeremy (Group Leader) asked me if I wanted to go to Man Camp because there was a open spot in his group because some guy registered but was not able to go. I told him yes and that would end up being the right decision. 

I got to go camping for the first time and it was a crazy first time because we were getting the aftermath of the hurricane. Other than that, the sessions we had were amazing just 3,000 guys worshiping God and growing in their faith. The worship that was going on was amazing and I'm not usually a fan of singing but this time it was different. I was really into the songs and the type of music that they were playing. It was just right style for me and brought the right energy.  My favorite song from the weekend is RATTLE! by Elevation Worship. Then the messages were really impacting for me because I want to grow in my faith and a couple of people had told me that this is one of the best ways for me to do that. It was my first time going to man camp and I didn't know what to expect but they were the best part of the whole camp. We had 4 sessions and every single one was amazing. Then small groups were a time we got to share what we learned and that stuck out to us from the message but it was also a time we got to be open with each other and share what we were struggling with and have each others support through those things. 

Overall Man Camp was just the right thing I needed to grow in my faith. I got to learn that I need to stop trying to control the plan that God has more me and just let him guide me through life. Another thing is that I'm not alone on this adventure that God has for me because God is with me every step of the way and I got people around me that are here to support and help me. I got to be open with the guys in my group with things that I'm struggling with and areas that I want to grow in. I plan on going back next year to continue to grow in my faith. I would have not changed anything about the experience that I had and the connections that I made on the way. I can't wait to see what God has planned for me in the future. 

Thank you all!

Hey everyone!

I am very excited to share my journey with you guys as I go through the internship. I feel very comfortable where I am at in the internship and it has already impacted me in so many ways. Also have had a little fun here and there.

The classes that we have had so far have been really good. The first class was about having a task management system and that not having one in not an option. The second class was about our well-being and how are well-being will impact the type of leader we are. The third class was when we got to share our testimonies with the rest of the interns. The classes have really impacted me so far.

On the 21st of August we had our DreamTeam launch at the Perrysburg campus. It was my first time going to one of these events. I had so much fun helping out and serving the DreamTeam for their special night. We got to learn a lot from Ben and have fun with the Tonight Show theme in the auditorium. Overall the launch was wonderful experience for me and everyone involved. 

First month of the Internship has been amazing and I can't wait see what God has planned for the future.

Thank you guys so much for the support and encouragement through this journey!