Title: ELCA Horizon Internships Approved ELCA NEWS SERVICE January 23, 1997 HORIZON INTERNSHIPS APPROVED At least 32 congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are providing educational settings for seminarians through the church?s Horizon Internship program -- from Los Angeles to Goodridge, Minn., from Boston to San Antonio, Texas. Another 10 congregations are on a waiting list. A master of divinity is the minimum degree required of ELCA clergy. Earning the degree usually requires a bachelor's degree and four years of seminary education, including a parish internship during the third year. Horizon interns complete that third year of seminary education with rural, urban or multicultural congregations. Some internships are arranged with Lutheran churches in other countries, such as the English-speaking Lutheran congregation in Ngaoundere, Cameroon, and the Warsaw International Church in Warsaw, Poland. Interns earn a stipend and may require housing; and that could be a financial hardship for some congregations. Horizon provides some funding; and seminarians and congregations are recruited and screened to match the needs of each. The program ?helps train pastors for the 21st century? and gives congregations a needed boost, said the Rev. Carla J. Nelson, Gracious Saviour Lutheran Church, Detroit. The ELCA Division for Ministry oversees the program, working closely with the church?s 65 synods, eight seminaries, Commission for Multicultural Ministries and Divisions for Church in Society, Global Mission and Outreach.