The training challenge

One of the great challenges facing the church is how we train the next generation of apologists, pastors, evangelists and other workers.

The needs are great. I know many churches who are looking to recruit pastors but struggling to find someone appropriate. Likewise, how do we train apologists? Many online apologists using YouTube and other forms of social media are self-taught, mean well, but sometimes mislead.

The most natural place for training is in the local church, where we serve alongside our brothers and sisters and, hopefully, get some steer from more experienced believers. However, if you feel a call to more specialised ministry – in apologetics or leadership – the local church may seem more limited. We may not get the training we need in languages and wider scholarship from the local church. So where do we turn?

Academic crisis

Over the past two decades much of the emphasis has been on academic study programmes. The opportunities to gain a BA, or higher-level qualification, with emphasis on areas like evangelism or preaching, have multiplied. Such a qualification will have the advantage of being widely recognised and its credibility may be a passport to overseas mission. But there is a cost.

Academic study has become increasingly expensive and often tied to a lengthy three-year plan. Anyone pursuing a degree has to count the cost carefully since the introduction of student loans in 1990. When tuition fees were charged to students from 1998 these loans rapidly escalated. Anyone who graduated over 20 years ago may not be aware of just how expensive a degree has become. The average student debt in the UK is now £45,600. That’s an average, the highest debt recorded is an eye watering £231,000 (this particular student took multiple courses)! Tuition fees are now £9,250 per year. You might think this has created a lucrative business for those providing the service. However, universities are in financial trouble, with 40% forecasting a deficit this year – even increasing fees has not been able to cover the costs.

I draw attention to the financial issues because it underlines the problem in training for ministry. When the student-loan system was first being promoted, the key selling point was that a degree would get you a higher salary. For some degrees that remains true. If you want an example, Rothschilds offer a graduate scheme in private finance that pays £65,000p.a.! But what if you are called to ‘take up your cross’ and follow Christ? What if you are training to serve a God who will bless us richly but without the financial rewards?

Don’t discount a degree

Perhaps we need to recognise that academic degrees, though of great value, are not always the best route for training. For those who feel called to apologetics and evangelism a degree can be an advantage – though something like history, philosophy or media might be the best choice. It’s worth noting that most well-known apologists studied in secular institutions (C.S. Lewis, John Lennox, William Lane Craig). Theological colleges continue to offer tremendous depth of scholarship and safe spaces for study in Christian communities.

But outside of academic study the need for training is being filled by a great range of church-based intern programmes – I am involved in setting one up myself in Bournemouth. Gospel partnerships and larger churches are offering plenty of opportunities to train over one or two years.

These intern programmes are excellent for developing pastors and youth workers. But I think we also need these church-based networks to provide opportunities to specialise in apologetics and evangelism. Among modules on preaching and church planting it would be good if more of our internships offered training in philosophy, history and media to help encourage and form more of these next-generation apologists. I have no doubt the future of training will be increasingly flexible and local, but we need to embrace that while avoiding becoming shallow in our approach to the intellectual challenges of our age.