“It takes a village to raise a child,” so the proverb goes. It certainly takes local congregations to raise future leaders who will shepherd Christ’s church.
As the vine flourishes and discipleship grows, some of the fruit is leaders given by Christ to enable further growth (e.g. Ephesians 4v7-16). And there’s a distinct role to play too for organisations and teachers able to bring additional theological expertise. Importantly, it all happens in the context of the vine (John 15) or, to switch metaphors, in the body of Christ.
That’s also the place in which life-giving theology, needed by the church for its long-term health, must be produced as well. After all, theology is about knowing God through His word (or logos). The large-scale movement of theology away from local churches and the body of Christ into secular universities has inevitably weakened theology, and this in turn has weakened the theological foundations and health of the church itself.
Of course, being in the body of Christ means that we need each other – we have been born by the Spirit into loving, mutual dependence and gospel partnership. And we clearly see that need for each other and for warm partnership when we consider how to train and equip future pastors, evangelists, teachers and other leaders. We need increasingly to bring local church, training of leaders, and life-giving theology back together. As we’ve argued, these three belong together. And as we reunite them, they will prove to be “a cord not easily broken”. Our vision at Union is to do just that.
There is one body of Christ, but many institutions and organisations, and that’s where things get a bit more complicated! But the principles remain the same. At the grassroots level, we need committed, warm-hearted gospel partnership within the body of Christ – partnership between local churches and organisations that have additional theological expertise. Those organisations are then engaged in training and growing leaders together with local churches and in doing theology for the body of Christ. Of course, this will look different in different settings.
In Geneva in 1559, Calvin founded an “Academy” designed to help form ministers with a strong theological foundation. While medieval practice had been to keep theology in the universities and monasteries, Calvin’s Academy had a more missional heartbeat and was designed to knock down the ivory tower. Calvin knew that if local church ministry was to be strong and healthy, it needed theological muscle; and that if theologians were doing real theology, truly shaped by the truth in Jesus, they would be outgoing, missional, gospel-spreading people.
Professor of Church History and en columnist Michael Haykin writes: “… by 1562 some 2,150 congregations had been established in France with around 2 million members, many of them converted through the witness of men trained [by Calvin’s Academy]. That 2 million comprised 50% of the upper and middle classes, and a full 10% of the entire population. The growth is enormous when one reckons that at the time of Calvin’s conversion, there were probably no more than a couple of thousand evangelicals in France.” Haykin estimates that, in all, Calvin trained 1,200–1,500 pastors to serve in France.
Today, as in the Middle Ages before the Reformation, theology is very often expensive, restricted and elite. Lots of people want to be trained, equipped and sent out, but few can access and afford it. This means many pastors are going out without rigorous, Biblical education to undergird their ministries. At Union School of Theology, we have therefore recently introduced a new MA in Theology & Ministry, our most flexible first theology programme ever.
Committed, gospel-hearted partnership with local churches is vital as we seek together to grow leaders to grow churches. We see ourselves at Union as playing a supporting role in this work. Technology enables geographical constraints to be overcome and teaching to be brought to learning communities grounded in local churches and their networks – right where they are. We find this model of theological and ministry training has the advantage of being more accessible, flexible, and financially feasible. Let’s continue to strive to bring local church, training of leaders, and life-giving theology back together!
