Evangelicals have came together for a major global consultation on how to improve collaboration in theological education.
More than 500 people from 80 countries took part in the ‘C-22’ consultation at Izmir, Turkey, hosted by the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE). The aim was to strengthen collaboration across all forms of theological education worldwide.
However, UK-based Pastor Training International (PTI), which provides pastors from the poorest regions of the world with the training and materials they need and teaches them to expound the Bible more effectively, has sounded some cautionary notes about the ICETE strategy.
The ICETE consultation covered issues such as pastoral training and leadership development; bridging the gap between formal and non-formal training; quality assurance for non-formal training; the use of technology in theological education; spiritual formation and educating the next generation.
Dr Michael Ortiz, International Director of ICETE, said it meant ‘leaving our logos and egos behind, serving one another, and moving from inward postures to outward postures.
Thomas Schirrmacher, Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, an ICETE partner, said: ‘The future of the church is the future of its leaders, what we invest today into the education, training and maturing of emerging leaders will shape the church in ten or 20 years from now. Therefore, this ICETE consultation represents our own future.’
By contrast, PTI’s Director of Ministry Simon Percy said: ‘We always need to remember that most Christians now live in Africa, South America, China, and other parts of Asia. They need pastors who have been trained – but nine out of ten pastors in the majority world are untrained.
‘Furthermore, most cannot afford to go to Bible colleges, which are for the privileged few. Instead, they need some kind of distance learning and/or in-service training. Such training also needs to recognise that those pastors will be ministering to people who are, at best, only partially literate. Those pastors are also not, generally, confident readers, so do not naturally understand how to read and interpret Bible texts.
‘So PTI focuses on teaching pastors how to handle the Bible correctly, so their sermons and teaching are faithful to the meaning of the passage being studied. In addition, they need constructive feedback on the quality of their preaching, which best comes from those of the same background as those being trained. And that in turn means encouraging pastors to join local preaching groups, where they can continue to preach and receive that helpful feedback’.
