Lowering the Hurdles: an Introduction to International Theological Education

Picture this.

John is a pastor in a little country church. He has a small congregation and few there make much money, so he works a non-ministry job during the week to provide for his family. Lately, he has realized that the background he has in the Bible isn't enough, and he wants more training. Except there are a few hurdles in his way. 1) He cannot leave his job at the church or his vocational work. 2) There is nobody to take over his role at the church while he is gone. 3) He doesn't have the money to provide for his family while studying, especially with the additional costs of books, tuition, and such. He is made to choose between the spiritual health of his church, and the welfare of his family.

Joanna wants to learn more about the scripture to better serve her local women's group. Someone has

agreed to help her with the costs of tuition, so she can go to a Bible college in her country. However, no one will accept her because she dropped out of school after 8th grade so she could provide for her family. She wants the training, but doesn't have the required educational background to pursue it.

Joshua is ministering in an area full of extreme poverty. He sees the government corruption and a rising revolution in his country. He is struggling to know how to advise his church community. Do they side with the government out of respect for their God-given authority? Do they side with the rebels, who are trying to bring justice to the nation and get rid of corruption and oppression? Do they do nothing at all and just wait and see how things play out? However, as he has been reading Christian books and materials, all the authors are Western and no one has dealt with situations like his.

Jonti is a pastor looking for resources he can use the study the scriptures deeper on his own. He has been looking for books, magazine articles, or anything else he can get his hands on to learn more. However, nothing exists in any of the languages he speaks. He has a Bible he can read and understand, but there is very little available besides that in the languages that he speaks.

These fictional scenarios are far from fictional for many pastors and ministry leaders globally.

The Need:

For years, missionaries have been toiling to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. While the task is still unfinished, there are now new layers of ministry that are needed in the global sphere. Some previously unreached people groups now have generations of Christians in the church and now have national leaders

(leaders who are from the people group that they serve) running the ministries. There are distinct denominations started in other areas of the world that are thriving and working to train ministry leaders themselves. These kingdom milestones are worthy of celebration! Yet, they also bring fresh challenges and needs that need addressed.

One challenge is the task of creating accessible training programs for non-Western (non North American or European) ministry leaders, since many traditional models of higher education don't meet the needs of the global south (non North American or European regions). Questions of cost, home ministries, educational backgrounds, distance, language, resources available, and topics covered all become hurdles to many receiving the training they need and want. Thankfully, there are many organizations that are already working to address these needs and more.

The Path Forward: Networking

There has been an increasing number of Bible schools and seminaries popping up around the world to train local ministry leaders. Many of them are even working to make their training programs as accessible as possible, but the project of making accessible theological education that is accessible to anyone while still providing a quality education is an enormous task. This task is too large for any one ministry to monopolize, and requires networking and partnership to make a dent.

Learn more at: https://icete.info/

There are several global networks who are tackling this enormous project. One of the main networks that is

tackling accessible, quality theological education is a group called International Council of Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE). ICETE is an accreditation group, meaning that they hold Bible training programs around the world accountable to a certain standard of quality, so that a school's degrees/certificates actually mean something. In addition to holding these training groups accountable, they provide resources and mentorships for the schools that they work with, along with networking opportunities such as conferences for leaders in higher education on the local and global levels.

Another global organization working to advance global theological education is the Lausanne Movement. They are an evangelical missions network with a branch devoted to international theological education. These organizations and more are providing platforms for individual training programs and their leadership teams to connect with and learn from others addressing the same challenges.

These organizations are fostering conversations surrounding ways to train ministry leaders in formal settings like Bible institutes, seminaries, and doctoral programs as well as non-formal settings like leadership conferences, certificated training programs, and more. They are working across organizations to share resources and ideas for the sake of expanding God's kingdom.

The Vision:

God invites humanity to join Him on his mission to restore His relationship with sinful people and invite them

into His kingdom. International Theological Education involves equipping ministers of the gospel, so they can accomplish God's mission efficiently and effectively from a heart of love. But, this is not a task that any one organization can complete on its own. It requires smaller institutions to connect with other institutions experiencing similar challenges. It requires missions organizations to cross denominational and organizational boundaries and work together to lower hurdles to ministry training. It requires missionaries from all countries and cultures to reach all countries and cultures. It also requires the people of God to be the church: unified and diverse people working together to bring Him glory in this age and in the age to come.

My Role:

My role as Director of Global Education means that I will work within Bible Centered Ministries International (BCM) to help make bible training accessible to people from a variety of walks of life. I will also work to tap into these global networks and inter-mission partnerships so that BCM can make use of partnerships with others pursuing the same kingdom goal.