Communications Intern

Description

WL Grace Church, established over 80 years ago in Winona Lake, Indiana, is a multi-generational church whose mission is to Love Our Neighbors to Jesus, Follow Jesus Together, and Equip Leaders for the World. For many years, our internship program has primarily focused on Youth Ministry, but in the past two years has expanded to include Communications, Worship, Worship Tech, Student and Kids Ministry.

This internship will be supervised by Dave Phelps, Director of Communications, who will provide direct training, instruction, and mentorship. Interns will gain hands-on experience learning practical skills in various aspects of communications and teamwork within a ministry context that will make them more marketable upon graduation.

Learning Goals for Interns:

1. See Learning Objectives Below

Responsibilities

1. Assist with planning, creating, scheduling, and publishing social media content for Winona Lake Grace Church, WL Lake Café, and WL Play Space.
2. Write engaging copy for social media, email communications, website updates, blogs, and promotional materials.
3. Support digital marketing campaigns, including paid social media advertising and campaign performance tracking.
4. Create graphics, photos, short-form videos, and other digital assets that align with each brand's voice and mission.
5. Draft press releases and assist with media outreach for church initiatives, events, and community programs.
6. Participate in creative planning meetings, campaign development, and content brainstorming.
7. Assist with photography and content capture during church services, events, and community activities.
8. Analyze marketing metrics and contribute ideas to improve audience engagement and campaign effectiveness.

Qualifications

1. Currently pursuing a degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations, Journalism, Digital Media, or a related field.
2. Strong written and verbal communication skills.
3. Creative thinker with attention to detail and a willingness to learn.
4. Comfortable working independently while collaborating within a team environment.
5. Familiarity with social media platforms and current digital communication trends.
6. Experience with Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar creative software is helpful but not required.
7. Interest in nonprofit communications, marketing, and community engagement.
8. Training will be provided for church communication systems, advertising platforms, and organizational workflows.

Learning Objectives

1. Develop practical experience creating integrated marketing campaigns across multiple brands and audiences.
2. Strengthen professional writing skills through social media content, website copy, email marketing, press releases, and storytelling.
3. Learn digital advertising fundamentals, including audience targeting, budgeting, campaign execution, optimization, and performance analysis.
4. Gain experience managing communications for both a nonprofit organization and mission-driven small businesses with distinct audiences and objectives.
5. Understand brand management and how to communicate consistently across multiple communication channels.
6. Build project management, collaboration, client communication, and presentation skills through weekly planning meetings and project reviews.
7. Receive structured mentoring, coaching, and regular performance feedback from experienced communications professionals.
8. Develop professional workplace habits including organization, accountability, ethical decision-making, time management, and creative problem-solving.

Contact Information