Proclaimer Blog
What to look for in a training course
This week I've been doing some recording with the FIEC for some video shorts. My own slot was on "what to look for in a training course" and here's my text. I happen to think that PT Cornhill fits this set of criteria very indeed – well, I would, wouldn't I!! But even if that's not your chosen route or the route of those you're training in your church (and I'm big enough to realise that there are lots of good options), I hope there's some wisdom here. Please note that this was written for a free church audience. Nevertheless, I hope there's lots of help here whatever your background.
One of the great things about preparing for free-church ministry is that there is no one set route to follow. That means that you can carefully choose a training route which suits you best. However, perhaps most importantly of all, remember that any training you undertake needs to be part of a mindset of ongoing training. It’s not: train, qualify and then you’re done. Ministry is a lifetime of learning, growing and serving.
Nevertheless, a good training period going into ministry can set you up well for a lifetime of service. It’s brilliant that here in the UK there are lots of different options that you can pursue. But how on earth can you choose between them? Well, here are a few pointers.
First, don’t make the choice on your own. You belong to a local church and, even if your church is not in a position to fund all your training, you should be making decisions with them. And this strong doctrine of the local church is also important when it comes to choosing a particular college or course.
Make sure that the place you select has a robust and healthy theology of the local church. Do they see their role as serving the local church – or as setting the agenda? How will you (especially if you go away to study) maintain this local church involvement?
The second tip is this. Choose training which reflects the nature of real church work. Make sure it majors on the things that feature most in ministry. For starters, that means preaching and pastoral work. Don’t choose somewhere which sees those things as nice-to-have. They need to be at the core of your training because they’re at the core of your ministry.
Then a word about breadth. You need to be trained by those who respect your particular theological position. I think it’s a fool’s errand to think you can convert a liberal establishment. Don’t even try! Find out what the course beliefs are. Make sure you’re happy with them.
But equally, go for somewhere where there is some stretching breadth so that you will be challenged, always assuming that the breadth comes from secondary issues. In other words, you’re looking for somewhere that accepts and rejoices in your boundaries but includes others who will get you thinking outside of the box. That balance needs wise thinking, but is worth considering.
Then there are some practical considerations, of course. These include cost, location, full time versus part time, whether you have a family (it may be difficult to move them all), length of course, how it will fit with church or work life, whether it leads to a recognised qualification and so on.
All those need to be part of your decision. Find people who have done the course and ask them questions. How did it work? How did life shape up? How did the family cope? What would they do differently?
But above all, plan to enjoy it. Even though ministry is a lifetime of learning, this opportunity to train now is almost certainly a one off. So, plan to get the most out of it. And plan to enjoy it.
I’ve done three lots of training in my career. The first two were business related and necessary. They were, to be honest, a bit of a chore. But I loved training for ministry and would not have swapped it for anything. I hope you feel the same.