Sounds like a crazy question right? We place a high value on professional training, especially for individuals who care for the various aspects of our physical health. If we are so adamant about this in the caretakers of our physical health, shouldn’t we be more adamant about it in the individuals who care for us spiritually?
Now, I want to be clear. I am extremely thankful for the modern dissemination of biblical and theological knowledge. We live in an era where it is more accessible than ever before. The flip side of this is that the same amount of misinformation (if not more) is also available. This creates the additional challenge of having to discern between healthy, orthodox teaching and toxic, false teaching. This is a gifting/skill that church leaders need to develop, but the likelihood of developing it outside of a healthy discipleship context without falling into the trap of false teaching is slim.
The good news is that there are organizations and churches who are distributing orthodox teaching and training around the world, looking for innovative and reliable methods to equip church leaders who are in need of training. But the need is huge. “The CSGC estimates a total of 5 million pastors/priests in all Christian traditions worldwide (Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and Independents, including bi-vocational). Of these, we estimate that 5% (250,000) are likely to have formal theological training (undergraduate Bible degrees or Master’s degrees)…Roughly 70% of these pastors are in Independent congregations. Independent pastors, in particular, have little theological training, even in the West” (https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/research/facts-global-christianity/).
I am blessed to be part of one of these organizations. BCM International, and our Bible and Ministry Training Department’s goal is to provide Bible and ministry curriculum and training for church leaders globally. The many church leaders around the world who cannot obtain formal biblical and theological training are unable to for various reasons. There could be financial barriers, lack of formal training institutions in their region, or the inability to give the significant time commitment that formal training often requires. We are looking to provide these leaders with quality, accessible training to further equip them to do the work God has called them to do.
BCM is uniquely positioned to create and implement this type of training because we already have training models in place for training and equipping children’s ministry leaders. Combined with the vast network of ministry partners we have around the world, this provides us with a solid infrastructure that we can build upon.
This work is vitally important to the health of the Church. Going back to the question that started this post; if you needed surgery, wouldn’t you would want your surgeon to have the proper medical training, and not someone who has seen a bunch of Youtube tutorials and “thinks they have the gist of it”? We have brothers and sisters around the world who are being shepherded by leaders who are faithfully pursing the call that God has laid on their lives but lack the training to do so as effectively as possible.
I am so excited that I get to partner with God in this manner and I want to invite you into this work as well! BCM is a faith-based mission which means that their missionaries do not receive guaranteed salaries. Each missionary is responsible for building the prayer and financial partnerships needed to carry on their ministry. We function in this manner because we believe that God has called all of His people into kingdom work in various roles. By partnering together in these roles we edify and encourage each other and become more effective in our kingdom work.
My question for you is: would you please consider partnering with me? I am in need of prayer and financial partners to help me accomplish this work. If you would like details on how exactly you can partner with me or just want more information about our ministry, please fill out the contact form below and leave a note on whether you would like to subscribe to my monthly newsletter.
Inspiration to Application 