“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).
The local church is indispensible in raising up the next generation of pastoral leaders. Yet for far too long this responsibility has been abdicated to Bible colleges and seminaries. While such institutions have an important role to play in ministry preparation, the church itself needs to take the lead role in raising up its own leadership.
3 comments ↓
I add a hearty “AMEN” to this one! I have nothing against higher learning, but if it is at the expense of the local church doing it’s job in raising up and training leaders and workers, then it is not OK. I think this is related to helping disciples find and use their spiritual gifts and their “calling.”
A big ditto to Randy and Todd’s statements. I can’t imagine that there are valid excuses why a church of CMC’s size and maturity can’t do better at this. In my 15 year’s of association I have met many well trained and equipped mature leaders who could be building new leaders through imparting their knowledge and providing mentoring (discipleship).
It is a shame that we sit back in the pews and wait for the pastors/speakers to urge us on in growth. When in reality it was through day to day involvment and personal relationships that the first disciples and early churchs were built up. They had no radio, no TV, no internet, few writings and were still able to build a solid body of believers on which to build the church.
This is interesting to me since I have at least one child who has been called to ministry yet has had no formal ministry training yet. I can’t think of a better environment to learn true ministry than a place where the young(er) person is in a community of mature believers who have had a variety of life experiences.
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