Notes: Historical Models of Ministry Training

Historical Models of Ministry Training

Henry Reyenga

Ancient Biblical Practices of Ministry Training

In the Old Testament, revival prophets were trained at the school of the prophets. A snapshot of this culture is easily seen in the life, ministry, and work of Elijah and Elisha. In those days, three thousand years ago, there were seminaries of various religions. There were schools for Baal worship where Baal leaders were raised up to promote the Baal religion. In Israel in 1,000 BC, the king and queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel, were big supporters of the Baal religion. In fact, they were making the national religion of Israel to be the worshiping of Jezebel's god, the god of Ekron.

Ancient Biblical Practices of Ministry Training

The minority religion was the religion of Yahweh. Elijah thought he was the only prophet left that did not worship Baal, but God still had 7,000 other than him in Israel. Elijah began a school of the prophets by calling Elisha and calling him into the service of the Lord. By the time that Elijah was taken up into heaven, Elisha was ready to take the mantle. Elisha expanded this school even more.

How were the prophets trained?

They just spent time being mentored by their leaders until they were ready to be prophets themselves. This was a mentor model, where local mentorship raised up prophets. The leading prophet modeled the way of the Lord and taught it to the called, yet-to-be trained new prophets.

How were the prophets trained?

In the New Testament, Jesus set up a school of the prophets, whom he called disciples. The Son of God called ordinary people, usually from the working class, like fishermen and tax collectors, to be future revival leaders. We see in his ministry that Jesus knew the Old Testament and spent his time sharing and teaching insights about the kingdom of God that would be ushered in when Jesus himself would die, rise from the dead, and ascend on high.

Jesus and the Mentor Model

Jesus also promoted the mentor model, where a long-term relationship accompanied by teaching prepared the disciples to be the prophets of the early church. The wisdom of this model was questioned by the religious leaders of Jesus' day, but the power and effectiveness cannot be denied. Consider how the leaders of the Jewish religion characterized Peter and John after Jesus had ascended to be with God. We find that "When they (the religious leaders) saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13).

Mentor Model Expands in Early Church

The mentoring model was the model that drove ministry training in the Old and New Testament. When the apostle Paul was chosen as God's instrument to spread the gospel to the Gentiles, he too worked with the mindset of a mentor. This model included spending time with the newly called future prophets. A great example of this is his work with Timothy, whom he called his son. First and Second Timothy are examples of mentor "content” that forms part of Scripture.

Mentor Model Expands in Early Church

By the time the apostles had passed away, their teachings and the teachings of Christ were written down for the Christian leaders. They, in turn, passed on the knowledge content of the faith to newly called leaders. A revival witness was passed down from generation to generation. The mentorship model was firmly the dominant model for the identifying, training, and mobilizing of future leaders, or, as they were then called, pastors. Pastor training was a mentoring operation that included communicating the content of the faith.

Ordination 

This discipleship model yielded ordained Priests/Pastors (elders), and ministers (deacons), who populated the leadership teams of the early church. They served in different roles (Ephesians 4:11-12). They were used by God to spread the gospel, and the church spread quickly. This mentoring model gradually changed to a more corporate model for the training of leaders.

Middle Ages Ministry Training

Within five hundred years, the church organization developed and resembled the cultural organizations of the time. The monastic movement developed, sometimes cloistering leaders away from the very culture they were called to reach. For others, these movements help Christian Leaders make major contributions in preserving the history and culture of Early Christianity. Many orders were developed that led the way for mission work.

The Development of Traditional Seminaries

The church in general continued to drift away from simple early Church Christianity until, by the time of the Reformation, very little Scripture was used to instruct the prophets. Instead, church traditions and practices, as they developed, formed the core curriculum that was communicated to leaders of the church.

Seminaries for Catholics and Protestants

The word seminary is from the Latin, "seminarium,” which means "seedbed.” Roman Catholics started calling their ministry training institutions "seminaries” at the time of the counter-reformation. At these Roman Catholic seminaries, personal discipline and philosophy were central.

Protestant Seminaries

Protestant Churches started seminaries too. They did not stress the middle ages' traditional Catholic church. They stressed an earlier version of the Catholic church that looked more like fifth-century Catholic churches. The works of St. Augustine were stressed instead of the Works of St. Thomas Aquinas of the fifteenth century. 

Dr Graham Hill, the Founding Director of The GlobalChurch Project wrote,

Toward a Mentor-Styled Training

The reformation and the counter-reformation did not return ministry training to the mentor training model. Christian Leaders left their homes and went to a seminary to receive their training and receive their certifying ordinations. 

The Pros and Cons of Different Approached of Ministry Training

In your assigned reading, I outline the pros and cons of the different models of ministry training. You can read that yourself. 

The Christian Leaders Institute Mentor Supporting Approach

Christian Leaders Institute seeks to combine the benefits of both the discipleship model and the seminary model for ministry training. The goal is to mobilize as many effective and sustainable Christian leaders as possible for ministry. The revolutionary impact of the Internet allows us to venture into seeking to bring the best of both approaches.

Six Benefits of this Approach

1. Promote Local Mentor Culture

2. Accessible and Mission-Driven

3. Appropriate Academic Expectations

4. Bi-Vocational Sensitivities

5. Low Ministry Overhead Oriented

6. More and more Perceived Credibility

As Christian Leaders Institute grows with top professors and effective practices, opportunities for credibility and even US Department of Education Accreditation are coming near. CLI is laying the groundwork for USA National Accreditation. Right now we are forming agreements with Accredited schools if students want to go on to get higher degrees that are accredited by the US Department of Education.