Aligned and Applicable

By the grace of God, churches and mission agencies are increasingly aware of the need to expand and improve the training of pastors and church leaders. This is a vital step in stabilizing and sustaining church-planting movements around the globe. In previous articles, we have noted some of the most common and debilitating obstacles encountered by those who launch out to meet this need. Below are two other considerations to help make such training more effective.

Is the training method aligned with church-based training?

This question arises from the common obstacles that confront the “institute” model of training which is common in pastoral training today. Such obstacles include delays before adequate structure, distance from pastors, and difficulties in sustained funding (You can read more about these obstacles in a previous article, The Importance of Church-centric Training). Recognizing the existence of these hurdles will naturally lead one to consider a church-centered model for training.

However, the alignment with church-based training uncovers another obstacle. The fact is that most pastors or church leaders feel unqualified or incapable of training others. While they may humbly believe they have some grasp of what is needed to carefully study and preach God's Word, they realize that it can be difficult to convey that understanding to others. It can be daunting to them to adequately communicate the essential principles and techniques. For this reason, it is important to find a training method that the average pastor can learn and transfer to others. If the content is so complex that only highly skilled trainers can communicate it, it will not gain traction where it is needed most — within the many churches that lack access to training institutes. What is needed is content that is carefully developed and thoughtfully organized in a way that empowers the average pastor to accomplish this vital task.

Is the training applicable?

When I first began training pastors overseas, I used a resource that purposed to provide the “bare minimum” that a local pastor might need in ministry. This seemed like a great idea and a reasonable goal. However, it soon became apparent that many of the things considered "essential" to the state-side developers were perhaps better categorized as "sometimes helpful" or "frequently recommended.” This was especially true when attempting to train in rural contexts within a developing nation, as I was doing. For the pastors laboring in that field, several aspects were simply not relevant, such as how to order Sunday School materials and how to hire a secretary. With all the demands already resting on these bi-vocational shepherds, I realized that I should not consume their valuable time training them in things they would never or scarcely ever use. I needed a more focused approach if I was going to efficiently equip these brothers with tools they could immediately and regularly apply in their ministries.

With this experience in mind, I believe the wisest approach is to focus on training pastors to shepherd God’s people with the Truth of the Scriptures. While other elements could be considered useful in certain ministry contexts (such as an overview of Church history or systematic doctrines), there is nothing more fundamental and applicable to New Testament church ministry than Paul’s exhortation to “preach the Word” in every season and every context. In my experience, this is the need that untrained pastors around the globe sense most urgently — to be better equipped for the careful study and effective preaching of the Word of God. Seeing that this is the preeminent duty of the shepherd, we should make it our chief focus in training and not use vital hours in studies that can only complement this foundational task.