Today I heard some good news. A church in the Northeast USA decided to start up some in church courses. They had 28 signed up and I am thinking it is a church of a couple hundred. That is a great group! I am encouraged because it seems a few weeks ago I had a conversation or I saw that most churches are not getting many out for anything besides church, and sometimes not even for church. It is my understanding that there is not a lot of biblical training going on in the US.
Here in Brazil in general I think it is a little different. In some places it is different in that there is some training happening; in other places or church denominations members barely leave the church. Of course there needs to be some kind of balance, as we should be striving to know the Scriptures and then go out and put into practice what we have learned. We can't just spend all of our time in the church and we shouldn't just barely be in church or go only when it is convenient.
It seems like a shift is happening with pastors as many pastors have been burnt out. The role of a pastor is a do all job in the church. Yet in the Bible the saints are charged with doing ministry. The church should be a large group of workers serving one another and the pastor is the equipper of the saints for the work of the ministry. So church based training should be a thing. Are you prepared for ministry? What types of ministry? Does your church have leaders who can step up if and when the pastor is absent?
The shift with pastors is that some see value in being bi-vocational. Another part of it is that there are less and less pastors available and churches are closing. Some have called it a leadership crisis. So where are we going to get our leaders from? This is an argument for church based training. Historically we ship off our youth to Bible colleges and they become pastors and leaders and that is good too. Yet what about possible leaders within the church who have jobs and families or financial difficulties. Is the only route Bible college? While certainly it is a good route and helpful, in the biblical requirements in I Timothy and Titus you won't find Bible college on the list. You will find character traits and skills that can be developed with proper training and mentoring in a local church.
So I am excited that there is some vision for church based training out there, and I exhort you to think about this and see what is happening in your church. This last weekend we had a training module on Counseling and it was awesome! We try to do four modules per year. Doesn't seem like much, but over years you really see all the subjects covered. In August we will be starting a year furlough; if you are interested in what your church can be doing or how I can help, please let me know!
