A Christian Gap Year in the local church
About Life Year
LIFE Year is an gap year intern programme at Life Church Warrington. It is a year of growing closer to Jesus, of serving the local community and of being a member of a vibrant AOG church family.
Not sure about where life is heading? Unsure about big decisions like career, purpose and calling? Take a pause to listen and learn.
We can support you as you understand more about who you are in God, discovering more of your purpose and role in local church, 
and lay foundations for the rest of your life.
Chris and Katherine Lowry lead the LIFE Year programme, and also lead Latchford Congregation. The internship leads into many areas include Youth, Kids, Cafe and Men’s/Women’s Ministry.
A Family on a Mission Together
About Life Church
Life Church Warrington is an Acts 2 Community; aiming to live out the values of the early church in community. We meet in 6 different church expressions and locations across the town.
LIFE Year Interns are often based in the Latchford congregation; which is around 150 people, with a multi-cultural flavour – we have a large Hong Kong contingent, as well as many Iranians! We have six other congregations, so some people spend their year serving in other locations too.
Latchford doesn’t have a traditional church building – instead we have a Community House: a physical house in the heart of the deprived Westy Estate in Latchford.
It serves as our congregation’s physical footprint, and is used during the week for meetings, meals, River Cafe, Life Groups, sewing groups, revision clubs and other activities. Weekly Intern teaching takes place in the Community House.
The Shape Of The Year
The Programme
LIFE Year is a part-time programme, running from September to July. It will require your commitment on Thursdays, Fridays and Sunday mornings. Aside from this you will be free for income generating/other activities.
During the year, you be given one-on-one input from church leaders, former interns and each other. The centre of the week is our weekly intern lunch, teaching and mentoring session.
Term 1: Core values of Christianity and church
Term 2: Old Testament Study (previous years we’ve studied 1&2 Samuel, Joshua & Genesis. This year we will study Exodus).
Term 3: New Testament Study (having covered Galatians, Mark and 1,2,3 John; this year we will tackle Ephesians).
Interns also lead teaching on a Matthew and Luke study throughout the year.
LIFE Year interns also have the opportunity to serve within our church ministries, including;
•Community Cafe
•Youth & Schools work
•Foodbank Grocery
•Prayer
•Homeless & Asylum seeker support
•Kids Club
•Sunday serving teams; welcome, hospitality, music, kids, youth.
At mid-way and the end of the year, LIFE Year interns have a formal review, to help highlight areas of growth, gifting and challenge, with input from several church leaders.
Open to All, Character over Competence
Who Can Apply?
LIFE Year is open to all ages. As a Christian gap year, it can fit into any point of your life; with particular suitability for those aged 18-30. We are particularly keen to work with people asking “what is next?” with regard to decisions about university, career and other life choices.
We are looking for Christians, with two key characteristics; a servant heart and teachability. These are the same characteristics Life Church looks for in all our ministries and leaders. You don’t need to know everything or be perfect; you need to love Jesus, be willing to learn and keen to serve.
This is not a paid position. For those who need it, we are able to provide significant help with accommodation, with enough time to find part time work on 3 days a week/evenings. Aside from accommodation, our commitment to you would be our investment in your personal and spiritual development, and the opportunity to participate in the building of the Kingdom.
Read more about our expectations and what we offer to interns here…
Low cost. part-time. fully committed
COST & TIME
The internship costs £40 a month; this covers food costs at the weekly intern lunch, hoodies, books and several trips in the year. For interns living in the house, the cost is £200 a month + one third of house bills; this includes accommodation and course materials.
The internship is intentionally part time. This allows applicants to work to self-fund, or to raise external support to fund your year. We believe interns will bring positive energy and value to our church that requires commitment from us; in our time, relationship, prayer & finances. We are keen to work with interns of any level of economic background and don’t want people to be excluded due to finances. We also believe that the process of paying for your own upkeep is an important part of character development.
Our suggestion would be that applicants would aim to raise some funding support from their home churches to support them as UK missionaries. This can be an opportunity to discuss mission at home and to add spiritual support and accountability to your walk. The other option is to work part time. Our programme is planned around Thursday-Friday + Sunday day time, the only evenings we need you for are Thursday and Fridays. The rest of the time you would be free to raise funds to support yourself.
Most importantly: If you feel God is calling you to this process but you are worried about the financial aspect? Please talk to us, we don’t want anyone to feel excluded.
Living in the community
Accommodation & Travel
Latchford Congregation has a Community House, a house in the heart of our community. It is used during the week for community activities. Downstairs is open plan community space, a kitchen and a toilet. Upstairs it has an office, two bedrooms and a bathroom.
We can thus accommodate 2 or 3 interns in the house; last year we had one intern living with their family in Warrington, one living in the community house. The cost of living in the house is £200 a month + one third of house bills; this is subsidised to be as affordable as possible.
You will be able to use the kitchen and areas downstairs; but they will need to be kept clean and free of clutter, as they are used regularly for church activities. There’s also a commercial espresso machine, if you like high end coffee!
The house has ample room for parking, and lifts will often be available; however you will need to come ready to get yourself around if required. All required activities can be traversed by bicycle and bus, and we can help provide bicycles. Some of our activities are in locations around Warrington, so there will be some travel and you will need to use your own initiative in getting there!