Apprenticeship Contract: Get it in Writing
One of the first lessons about apprenticeship we can learn from our Christian brethren who have gone before us is to get it in writing. It may sound stiflingly formal but do not begin without a short contract. An apprenticeship contract will fix in the minds of both master and apprentice the journey they are embarking on together. The reason the contract must be short is the natural fear we all have of long, complicated and possibly entangling contracts. We do not want to risk getting ourselves tied into a legal mess we regret. So keeping the contract short is of utmost importance. Use the contract to cover just a very few points that are critical to the relationship.
Partner with Christians
If you desire a distinctively Christian relationship you will have to first be assured that your master or apprentice is a professing Christian. A simple test is for both parties to agree to common Christian creeds such as The Apostles Creed or The Nicene Creed—preferably both. I am suggesting these because they have been time tested and are broadly understood as defining critical doctrines relating to the Christian faith. Other creeds or confessions could be used and might be useful depending on the people involved and what their expectations from the relationship might be. For instance reformed Baptists might want to limit their apprenticeship relations to other reformed Baptists and use the London Baptist Confession of 1689 as their agreed statement or Presbyterians may want to use The Westminster Confession. But whatever creed or confession you use, well, just use one or two. You surely do not want to get into a contract for Christian trade apprenticeship only to find that the person you are contracted with (covenanted with) is not even a Christian. Scripture teaches:
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Keep it Short & Sweet
I know how easy it is to skip this first and most important step in creating a master/apprentice relationship but it is critical to your future happiness in this adventure to begin here—the short apprenticeship contract. And the item of first concern is to be assured the person you are contracting with is of the same Christian faith you are. Even if you know the person you are contracting with fairly well you ought to demand in the contract that each party agree to some formal statement of Christian doctrine. You need this in writing not just an informal, verbal statement. But I suggest that you not try to write your own list of Christian doctrines for the contract. If you do it will be too long and likely contain errors you will regret or that the proposed master or apprentice cannot in good conscience accept. Wisdom in this case is to use a time tested creed(s) or confession as your common profession. We need our agreed confessions to be biblically sound and time tested and short, short, short or we will end up with long apprenticeship contracts that no one will want to sign.