PRAYERFUL SERVICE
The Iona Project chapel immersion program offers internships for those interested in sharing a common life of prayer, scripture and mutual accountability, while conducting youth ministry in a residential childcare setting.
wHAT IS THE IONA PROJECT?
Iona Overview
Certification
Program Components
Frequently Asked Questions
Iona Overview
Our interdenominational chapel program supports the Christ-centered atmosphere at Boys Ranch. Providing both pastoral care and religious programming, our four full-time chaplains bring a combined 30 years of Boys Ranch chapel experience to our campus. Rooted in scripture, the ministry blends innovation with both ancient and contemporary traditions, proclaiming the truth of scripture in our very unique setting.
OUR FOUR KEY MINISTRY PRINCIPLES
- We are Non-sectarian. Our Christian chapel ministry honors the inter-denominational makeup of our setting.
- We are Patient. We believe hurt people need healing space. In other words, “Coercion obstructs conversion.”
- We are Unpretentious. We honor difficult questions without shock and shaming. It seems when there’s room to doubt it becomes possible to believe.
- We are Evangelical. This should not be confused with a political label. We believe prayer and healthy people are the chief conduits of the Spirit’s redemptive movements. Thus the gospel spreads outward as we allow it to sink deeper inward.
Certification
CERTIFICATE IN SPIRITUAL FORMATION & YOUTH MINISTRY
Program Components
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
The Iona Project chapel immersion program has three primary components:
- Intentional Spiritual Formation. Iona Project interns will participate in an ordered life of prayer. Living together for a year in our residential childcare community, interns will participate in four directed retreats, monthly spiritual direction, weekly worship and Communion, weekly scripture meditation, a weekly gathering for nurture and accountability, and daily prayer.
- Trauma-informed Childcare Training. Iona Project interns will complete no less than 56 hours of childcare training. Additional training opportunities such as Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) and Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) are also available.
- Youth Ministry Conduction. While working at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch chapel, Iona Project interns will help conduct a rich array of youth ministry. Responsibilities are two-fold, consisting of both program support of our inter-denominational chapel as well as pastoral care of our residents. Worship, Christian education, weekly activities, events, and trips are among the assigned program duties. Pastoral duties consist of discipleship, crisis care, and hospital visitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IS CAL FARLEY’S BOYS RANCH?
Cal Farley’s is one of America’s largest privately-funded child and family service providers specializing in both residential and community-based services at no cost to the families of children in our care. Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch is the residential, or campus-based program. At the Boys Ranch campus, 10 to 12 children live in each of the homes with house parent couples providing supervision, mentoring and parenting. If n needed, our basic-care services can accommodate 24-hour supervision.
WHERE IS THE CAMPUS LOCATED?
Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch (zip code 79010) is located in northeast Oldham County, Texas. It lies on US-385, 36 miles northwest of Amarillo.
WHERE WILL I lIVE?
Interns will live together in 2 Iona Project apartments: women in one unit and men in the other.
WHEN IS THE PROGRAM?
The program runs June 1 through June 1 of the following year.
IS IT REALLY IMPORTANT TO COMMIT FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR?
Yes, the one-year commitment is immensely important. It is vital to understand that the Iona Project is not a customary work program for individuals. Instead, it is a program intentionally designed to form, through prayer, a micro-community of servants for our campus. Interns “become something together” for others through prayer, education, and service. You should think of it as a “together” commitment—not an “individual” pursuit.
CAN I WORK ON COLLEGE CLASSES DURING THE IONA YEAR?
No. We ask that Iona members do not take college classes. The Iona year is robust program that is meant to be a way of life. Cramming schooling or extra projects will add stress and distraction, diminishing the experience.
WHAT WILL I DO?
With days, weeks, and months structured around routine prayer and retreat times, Iona Project interns will conduct full-time supervised youth ministry. Responsibilities will include both pastoral care (such as discipleship, mentoring, and crisis ministry) as well as activity coordination (such as devotional leading, Sunday school teaching, music ministry, events, retreats, and trips). You can learn more about our chapel program by clicking here.
IS THIS A PAID INTERNSHIP?
Yes. Our Human Resources Department can answer questions about wages as well as benefits.
HOW DO I APPLY?
Contact the Cal Farley’s Human Resources Department by clicking here or by calling 800-687-3722 ext. 2535 or 1253.
interested in an Iona Project Internship?
CARE
The chapel program provides pastoral care for our residents. This care provided by our chapel staff flows from three ongoing, intentional movements that necessarily feed one another:
OUR PASTORAL CARE HAS THREE MOVEMENTS:
The gift of loving PRESENCE:
intentionally accompanying others on their journeys.
The gift of WITHDRAWAL for prayer:
intentional time with God for the sake of others.
The gift of INTERCESSION:
intentionally working and praying on behalf of others.
Deeply committed to these three movements, chaplains live on campus, available not only to provide spiritual care in life crises, but also to offer mentoring, discipleship, and encouragement—praying with others, sharing God’s Word, and cheering at ball games.
BELIEF
As a Christ-centered chapel, we believe it is important for our students to hear the core Christian message believed by the early church (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). So as an ongoing invitation to Christian faith in our unique setting, this Chapel Belief Statement serves as the touchstone of our weekly chapel services
ACTIVITIES
All children in our care attend a weekly chapel service on Sunday mornings as well as a home devotional or Sunday school class. Carefully built around our Four Key Ministry Principles, these weekly gatherings honor a true “Christ-centered atmosphere,” treating everyone as Jesus did — with love and dignity.
Rooted in scripture, chapel activities are specially designed to be experiential, relational, and multisensory, building “memories that stick” — rich with laughter, color, adventure, and meaning.
In addition to these weekly obligations, students are invited to participate in a lively array of optional chapel activities such as:
- Camps
- Retreats
- Weekly youth groups
- VBS
- Student praise band
- Discipleship
- Service trips
- Sunset trail rides for prayer
RELATIONSHIPS
We teach the core relationship model that Jesus embodied. In a world suffering from damaged relationships, we believe Jesus has revealed the central blueprint for healthy relationships when addressing the Greatest Commandment:
‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your Neighbor as your Self’ (Luke 10:27).
In collaboration with other programs and departments on our campus, the chapel teaches and nurtures this Christ-centered healthy relationship triad of God, self, and others. You might say it is the portal to “the kingdom” as Jesus taught it. For this reason, chapel activities and teaching are an ongoing invitation to these practices, dispositions, and values.
- Forgiveness
- Love
- Trust
- Prayer
- Listening
- Intrinsic value
- Acceptance of others
- Self-acceptance
- Respect
- Grace
- Mercy
- Compassion
- Gratitude
- Generosity
- Sacrificial Service
- Healthy boundaries
PRAYER
We all seem to cultivate relationships in three primary ways: talking, listening, and quiet presence together. When relating to God, we call these movements “prayer.”
Following our Four Key Ministry Principles, the chapel program introduces residents to these three primary aspects of prayer.
three aspects of prayer
- Talking to another: Discursive prayer.
- Listening to another: Scripture meditation.
- Sharing quiet moments together without words: Contemplation.
Through teaching and guided experiences, our chapel program introduces residents to a deepening relationship with God through these primary modes of prayer.
SCRIPTURE
Perhaps the most powerful and important function of the chapel program is sowing the seed of God’s Word (Mark 4:13). In a time when youth ministry materials have proliferated, we still believe the Bible is our unsurpassed resource.
Like many folks, we believe scripture is different in nature from common textbooks. While the purpose of common books is information, the primary purpose of scripture is formation. Making this important distinction, we structure our weeks at Boys Ranch around regular, consistent encounters with scripture — seed sowing.
HOW WE SOW A SEED:
First, we create a sacred moment shaped by our Four Key Ministry Principles.
Next, we read scripture,
…prayerfully,
…with trust and presence,
…without additional clutter,
…without agenda.
Then our voices stop.
We avoid getting marooned on our favorite soapboxes by following a disciplined 3-year cycle through scripture (the RCL). In this way our students encounter a bigger, more complete picture of Jesus Christ through the Gospels. Honoring our Four Key Ministry Principles, each week’s Gospel reading links our weekly devotionals to our Sunday chapel service — seed sowing.
Iona
Testimonials
“My experience at Boys Ranch has been life changing to say the least. I came to minister to others, but I ended up being ministered to myself. And this will be an experience that will always be a part of me.”
Dean MushambangaboIona Intern 
“After my experience here, I’m convinced that no one can spend any amount of time at Boys Ranch and leave unchanged. Much of what I’ve learned these past two years has not only changed my perspective concerning God, His children, trauma, childcare, and ministry, but I myself have inevitably been transformed by my experience in the Iona Project.”
Kirsten KohlstedtIona Intern 
“After a year full of crash landings, forgotten meetings, precious moments, conversations over ice cream, and games of tennis I would not change a thing. The knowledge and growth I have experienced in this past year is irreplaceable to any other experience I could have ever dreamt of.”
Molly StuderIona Intern 
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