A big question …
/How do we formally train everyday people for paid Christian ministry?
While Higher Education (university) is a proven training pathway for our pastors, it often does not suit the gifts and learning styles of many everyday Christian men and women.
Sure, there will always be some everyday people who are able to meet, and maybe even thrive on, the requirements of Higher Education.
But on the whole, there’s a great risk that, due to their previous experiences of education, they will feel inferior to their university-educated brothers and sisters who are excelling in a Higher Education learning environment.
And there is another problem with squeezing everyday Christians through our current Higher Education training pathways, too.
If they spend all their time with university-educated people, absorbing their culture, they will be changed.
Consider how an Australian missionary to Japan is changed by living in Japanese culture and experiences reverse culture shock when they return to Australia. Everyday people, having adapted to be accepted and fit in at a theological institution full of university-educated professionals, may lose a sense of how they used to be.
They may still feel like they don’t really belong to university-educated professional culture, but now their everyday communities say they are different, too.
It’s sometimes called ‘third culture syndrome’.
And the irony, of course, is that if they can no longer identify strongly with ‘everyday’ culture, then the power of placing them in leadership roles – partly to help seek and minister specifically to lost everyday people – can be diminished.
Vocational education
There is a tertiary education sector designed for everyday people, called the Vocational and Education Training (VET) sector. It has the same academic rigour as the Higher Education sector up to an Honours year in a Bachelor degree. It is where Enrolled Nurses learn their vocation and where builders and mechanics learn their trades. It’s where many business owners and retail workers acquire their knowledge and skills.
So if it’s true that we need to appoint lots of trained, everyday Christian leaders if we wish to find the lost everyday people missing from our churches … and if it’s also true that for many of these leaders, Higher Education doesn’t work so well … what can we do?
Well, we already have an education model that allows us to train people very effectively. Below is a table outlining the various qualifications you can achieve in the VET and Higher Education sectors in Australia.
It was my conversation with my fellow student Trent, previously a carpenter, at theological college that got me wondering whether theological and ministry training for our church leaders could be conducted within the VET sector.
Eventually, Vocational Bible College was established in the VET sector to train everyday men and women, like my mate Trent, for ministry and leadership, offering courses designed to suit the learning styles and gifts God has given them.
Tomas’s story
Tomas Cera grew up in a Christian family. When he finished high school, he initially enrolled in university but ended up dropping out. He tried an electrical trade, but that wasn’t for him, either.
Eventually, Tomas started an apprenticeship as a floor installer.
Then Tomas’s pastor (who also happened to be his father-in-law) approached him about an opportunity: to step into the role of Youth Director at their church.
This was unexpected! Tomas had been doing voluntary youth ministry at his church for years but had just never thought of it as a job.
The more Tomas thought and prayed about it, the more it seemed like the right thing to do – so he made the tough decision to quit his apprenticeship.
He began to work part-time as a concrete labourer and part-time for his church; and the role at church came with the expectation that he would get further equipped for the job.
Tomas admits that he became quite stressed about the study aspect of his ministry role. He says:
We looked into lots of different options – theological colleges. They’re all really good in their own way, but I was definitely not an academic person, especially in high school. It was just not my forte.
But then his father-in-law found out about how VBC works and who it’s for. He told Tomas about it. And Tomas’s response? ‘Well, this sounds perfect. I’m a tradie, so this lines up with everything.’
Tomas has found his trainers to be incredibly helpful:
They’re so easy to talk to – so friendly. They make sure everyone understands something before we move on.
Serving in true partnership
It has been a joy to see everyday men and women grow in confidence to read God’s Word, teach God’s Word, lead others and make disciples. It was particularly encouraging to see one of our first graduates ordained as a Deacon by the Sydney Anglican Diocese in February 2020.
Ideally, we train people within the communities they are being equipped to reach. Vocational Education and Training recognises the strength of this and trains many of its students through an apprenticeship or traineeship.
This allows them to apply the theology and ministry skills that they are learning within the environment and culture they are planning to use them in. It also helps avoid ‘third culture syndrome’.
Is it possible to have a better spread of cultures in our current theological training colleges? Is it possible to have everyday and university-educated Christians training together?
Absolutely! It is my hope that one day this will happen.
But it’s only going to happen if our theological colleges and the institutions they serve are willing to offer Vocational Education and Training courses and recruit everyday Christian leaders for their teaching faculties.
This would be a huge shift in direction for Reformed evangelical theological colleges and church institutions.
But it is my prayer that, in time, this shift can occur.
I pray that in the future, university-educated and everyday Christian leaders will not only respect but celebrate their God-given differences, and serve in partnership together in local churches to reach everyone in the community – university-educated professionals and everyday people alike.
This article is one of a series that I’ve written about making disciples of ‘everyday people’.
It can be read on its own, but if you’d like to gain a greater understanding of how my thoughts around this important topic have developed, you may wish to read the full series of articles in order.
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