Introduction:

For as long as God has had a people, there has been a need for them to be taught. The people of God have always been a community of learners. From the time Adam was instructed to care for the garden, to the time John the Beloved was taught about things yet to come, believers everywhere have been in a constant state of learning. However, every generation of God’s people have had to struggle with not only knowing but also with how to make things known. In this discussion, we will attempt to understand the biblical mandate to educate God’s people; first, by exploring how theological education developed in Scripture and in church history, and second, by seeking to apply the principles we learn to the unique missional context of Word International Ministries.

 

I.  Theological Education in Scripture and Church History

A.            In the Old Testament

Old Testament Words for Teaching

In the Jewish Scriptures, there are several words pertaining to the act of teaching, each providing a unique perspective of the educational task. The first is the word lamad, which literally means “to cause to learn.” Particularly, it is used with respect to making know the laws and decrees of God, as first used by Moses when he said, Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you (Deuteronomy 4:1).

The second word is yarah. This term is quite picturesque because it literally means “to shoot” or “to point out.” Even in modern Hebrew it refers to the firing of a gun. In relation to the educational task, yarah suggests that teaching involves aiming at something with the intent to point it out to someone.  Simply put, it is the act of pointing out a fact or a truth.  In Exodus 35:34, Bezalel and Oholiab, the temple artisans, were not only knowledgeable in the field of artistry, they also had the ability to teach others how to become artists themselves.

The third word is the familiar noun torah, also used as a proper noun in reference to the first five books of Moses. Torah basically means “instruction, direction, and guidelines,” making it an apt term for the Pentateuch indeed. The term torah is actually derived from yarah, and, in Scripture, it is explicitly describes the various instructions that educate the Hebrews on how to live and behave as a unique people of God.

 

The Primary Purpose for Educating God’s People in the Old Testament

Teaching is not an end in itself, rather it is a path that leads to an intended end.  Unfortunately, much of what passes for theological education these days falls short of its biblically-defined purposes. For instance, there are teachers who impart data without challenging their students to flesh out the information gained in real-life applications that fulfill God’s will in their lives. In contrast, the Old Testament writers were keen to point out that the educational task is much more than just knowing facts. The primary purpose of Old Testament education is threefold.

First of all, teachings and instructions are given to compel God’s people to live faithful and holy lives. This clearly indicates that education not only involves the accumulation of information, but also requires information to enlighten the mind and enliven the heart to the holiness of God, resulting in a life that mirrors the very nature of God. When Moses was preparing a new generation of Hebrews to enter the land of promise, he taught them the law (Deuteronomy 11) by framing his teachings around the concept of being a unique nation of people. In doing so, Moses was teaching them, as he did the previous generation, that, You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own (Leviticus 20:26).

Secondly, the act of teaching was a means of restoration should the people of God stray from his will.  Knowing the law was never a guarantee that it would be flawlessly obeyed.  The Lord had always been mindful that his people were very capable of falling by the wayside and would need to be brought back to the fold. During the period of King Josiah’s reformation, the book of the Law was unearthed as the temple was being renovated.  In response to this discovery, the young king ordered that the Law be read  and taught to all the people (2 Chronicles 34), and as a result, Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. . . As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord (v. 33).

Thirdly, teaching was intended to help people develop the skills necessary to fulfill the purposes of God. While the work of God is often associated with the office of priests and prophets, the fact is, the totality of God’s work involved a myriad of tasks.  For instance, as we pointed out earlier, the building of the Temple required teaching people skills such as wood working, designing with precious metals, cutting stones, and all kinds of artistic crafts. Although some were apparently born with natural talents in these skills, many others had to be educated to help in this massive endeavor.

 

Learning Contexts in the Old Testament

The whole of the Old Testament is riddled with so many teaching moments that it would be impossible to enumerate them all given the limitations of this presentation.  For now, let us simply consider the general contexts in which the teaching-learning experience tended to transpire in the Old Testament.

We must begin with cosmic context where God himself serves as the teacher.  The first educational moment takes place in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2).  Here, the Lord God employs a variety of teaching methods by giving Adam a task to fulfill (v. 15), data regarding sustenance (v. 16), a moral imperative coupled with a consequence for failure (v. 17), and a chance to realize for himself his need of a suitable helper (vv. 18-19).  In other teaching moments, God uses the medium of a human educator, but makes it clear that he is ultimately still the teacher.  When sending Moses to enlighten Pharaoh about His plan for the Hebrews, God reminded him, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:12).

Another learning context is the home.  In fact, it is here that individuals receive their earliest instructions regarding the word of God.  The Lord reminded parents to make learning a natural part of home life.

 

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

 

King Solomon pointed out the benefit of initiating education in the home when he wrote, Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6).

Outside of home life, life-experience was the next education context for the Hebrews.  All throughout their desert wanderings, Moses and Aaron served as teachers of God’s statutes (Exodus 18:20).  In the book of Judges, God would raise mighty men (and one woman) to restore God’s people back to righteousness.  And through the rest of Jewish history, priests, prophets, and kings would stand as teachers of righteousness, mentors in leadership, and sages for bewildered souls.  Indeed many people, such as the scribe, Ezra (Ezra 7:10), devoted their whole lives to the task of hearing God’s words and educating God’s people accordingly.

The most formal educational contexts took place in the Tempe and, in the later years, the synagogues.  In Temple worship, the people of God were exposed to a multi-sensory learning experience that included reciting the virtues of the Lord, listening to the reading of the Law, and presenting offerings that demonstrated the sacred nature of God. Synagogue gatherings, on the other hand, centered on the reading and exposition of Scripture.  In those days, all male members of the community were invited to share their thoughts on the sacred texts.  Many centuries later, Jesus would himself stand before the people in a synagogue and proclaim the commencement of his Messianic ministry.

 

B.            In the New Testament

New Testament Words for Teaching

In the New Testament, the concept of teaching rides on the educational foundations of the Old Testament. There is not so much a new understanding of teaching as much as there is a heightened emphasis on the role of teaching in the Christian church, as well as its intended goal for believers and congregations.

The most prevalent term used to describe the act of teaching is didasko.  In an absolute sense, it means “to give instruction.” Hence, it is the most versatile word to describe the teaching task in a variety of contexts.

There are other terms that provide different shades of meaning associated with teaching.  The word katecheo, from which we get the term catechumen, carries the idea of providing oral instruction (Acts 18:25). The word paideuo is used to describe the giving of instruction and discipline in the home (Hebrews 12:6-7). This is not merely the giving of information but rather teaching someone to behave as he or she ought to behave. In the negative, it can refer to the act of reprimanding a child for disobedience. The term matheteuo, meaning “to make a disciple” (Matthew 13:52), has a more holistic flavor in that incorporates the different dimensions of being a student-learner.

Finally, there are the twin words probibazo and sumbibazo. The former means “to lead forward” and refers to teaching with a heavy dose of persuasion.  The latter literally means “to unite,” and it describes the act of helping people come to the same conclusion on an issue.

As we can see, each of these words shed a unique light on how theological education can be incorporated in the life of the Christian church.

 

The Primary Purpose of Teaching in the New Testament

The Old Testament educational purpose of compelling people to live faithful lives is not lost in the New Testament.  However, Christ and the apostles widen the scope of theological education beyond the parameters of the Jewish faith. With the new covenant, all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are invited to be a part of God’s Kingdom; therefore, the instructions for kingdom living are given to all as well.

In this sense, the first purpose of teaching is to introduce people to the Kingdom of God. With the declaration that “the Kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 3:2), Jesus made it known that his mission was to bring God’s kingdom to the hearts of people. He would accomplish this primarily through his teaching ministry. Furthermore, even the Jews needed to hear the message of Christ because at this point in their history, they seem to have lost their perspective on what it meant to be God’s people. During one encounter with Christ, they even resisted the idea that they were in need of deliverance when they said, We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone….How can you say that we shall be set free? (John 8:33). Their denial of need made it even more important for Jesus to properly educate them about what the Kingdom of God really was.

With this in mind, the other purpose of teaching in the New Testament is to correct misunderstandings about the old covenant. Very often in the Gospels, Jesus would come across people whose understanding of the law was muddled by years of misinterpretation and misapplication.  Christ would confront religious leaders, as well as the crowds, and say something like, You have heard it said—but I say unto you. In the Sermon on the Mount, for example, Jesus said, You have heard it said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”…but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:43-45). This, in essence, taught the hearer to understand the core values and ideas behind the laws given many centuries earlier.

The Apostle Paul faced a similar challenge among the Judaizers in Galatia. His epistle to the Galatians serves as a didactic letter that clarifies the relationship between the Old Testament Law and the redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ. In this epistle, Paul demonstrates how letter-writing can be used as an effective medium for theological education in a pastoral context.

With regards to the church, theological education has a twofold purpose—to make disciples and to mobilize disciples to fulfill the mission of the church. Central to the Great Commission is the mandate to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). The three ways of fulfilling this mandate is by going, baptizing, and teaching. The content of instruction is very specific—teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:20). As with true education, teaching disciples does not simply mean informing them about kingdom truths but also compelling them to respond obediently to Christ’s instructions.

The ministry of teaching is so important that the office of teacher takes a special place along the five-fold ministry gifts listed by Paul in Ephesians 4:11. Along with the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, and the pastor, the teacher is given to the church to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (v. 12). Even today, the function of theological education ought to remain consistent with this biblically-defined purpose.

 

Learning Contexts in the New Testament

In the New Testament, learning takes place in three general contexts, namely, the marketplace, the meeting room, and the mission field. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is found teaching in the market place. Although Jesus did some teaching in the synagogue (Mark 1:21), he seemed most comfortable bringing his teaching ministry wherever it was people were.  He taught in fields, on mountaintops, along valleys, on boats, or simply by trees. The world itself was his classroom.

Then there were the meeting rooms. We are not talking about plush conference rooms or high-tech university classrooms. Instead, we find God’s people turning most any gathering facility into a place of learning. During the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples gathered in the upper room where Christ taught some of his most important and memorable lessons.  Sometime later, the early church habitually met in homes for times of worship, fellowship, and instruction (Acts 2:42-47).

The third context was the mission field. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come upon the disciples, empowering them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). In Acts 8, Philip explained the Scriptures to the Ethiopian while on a road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza (v.26).

Throughout most of the Apostolic Period, these three informal environments would remain the most common contexts for teaching and learning. It would be a few more years before formal theological education would be normative in the Christian Church.

 

C.            In Church History

The development of theological education since the Apostolic Age lies outside the scope of this discussion and will certainly be tackled at a later time.  However, it is important to briefly familiarize ourselves with the general trends in theological education that has led to what it is today. Doing so will help us in analyzing the perpetual nature of the teaching task.  Furthermore, it will aid us in formulating education strategies that sustain the missional demands faced by our churches today.

 

The Early Church

Spanning the first five centuries of Christian history, the early church underwent dramatic changes in its population, structure, and inevitably, its approach to theological education. In the first century, the ministry of teaching began with Christ, was passed on to the apostles, who in turn passed it on to an ever-growing web of church leaders and workers. Due to the problem of persecution, much of what was called theological education took place under the radar in obscure meeting places as well as the marketplace. The content of the church’s teachings was primarily the teachings of Christ and the apostles’ teachings (which were virtually identical).

The second century witnessed a noticeable increase in the role and influence of the episkopos, or bishop/overseer. Bishops took over the role of teachers as they developed the cathecumanate, an instructive process of preparing a candidate for baptism and Christian living. This can be seen as an early form of church-based schooling whose curriculum centered on Scripture, ethics, creeds, and the liturgy of the church. The Catechetical School of Alexandria, founded by Bishop Demetrius, is a prime example of this.

In the second and third centuries, the need to defend the church’s fundamental creeds caused a rise in apologists, or defenders of Christian thought.  This also meant that the demand to prepare such apologists had to be provided by the church. All this was accomplished without the use of formal agencies outside the church. As for the educational needs of the average church member, the homily (sermon) was the primary means of providing instruction and training in the faith. Eventually, the church started to tap into the Hellenistic education system to provide leaders with basic learning (reading, writing, and public speaking) that could easily complement theological learning.

In the fourth and fifth centuries, the Edict of Milan, declared by Emperor Constantine, lifted the ban on the Christian religion. Eventually, Christianity was adopted as the official religion of Rome. Suddenly, the Christian church rose to a level of unparalleled prominence and gained access to the influence, the infrastructure, and the wealth of the Empire. With the help of the emperor, formal training for church leaders became readily available. Unfortunately, this led to a widening of the distance between the clergy and the laity. While clergy members were provided a wealth of theological education, the laity was given limited access to biblical teachings, and instead was given a heavy dose of church dogmas which did not always necessarily correspond to the teachings of the Bible.

 

The Medieval Church

During the Medieval Period, spanning the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, being a Christian was less about conversion and more about acculturation. People were not taught to make a commitment to Christ; they were simply baptized as a believer shortly after birth, and were not taught to seek a conversion experience later in life. Obviously, this practice led to the death of the cathecumenate. Even barbarians were “converted” via mass baptisms and enculturated into Romanism. Being a Christian was instantaneous and the chief requirement for all was strict and faithful adherence to the dogmas of the church.

Formal education was offered by the church but was limited to monks and clerics through cathedral schools. For some, the desire for a deeper spiritual experience beyond the offerings of the church led to the formation of monasteries. The monastic tradition of St. Benedict (480-547) is perhaps among the best known of these communal traditions. Because of the introverted nature of monastic living, monasteries eventually developed the reputation of being ivory tower institutions of learning where intellectuals engaged in theological education that was disconnected from the needs and concerns of those who were not part of the monastery.

As for the local church, members of the clergy had a virtual monopoly over religious education to the point where even the heads of the household had to yield this responsibility over to them. The Old Testament model where parents were the primary theological educators was scarcely practiced during this period. Furthermore, the homily continued to serve as the primary method of educating the church populace. For the most part, formal educational structures were not available to the laity during the medieval period.

Interestingly, images replaced the written word as the preferred form of education, largely due to an ever-growing illiterate population. To make matters worse, the Bible was only available in languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Latin) that were practically unknown to the vast majority of church members.

The medieval church is credited with the rise of the university being the primary venue for training clergy professionals under the auspices of the bishop’s office. At the bachelor level, students were taught grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, astronomy, music and geometry. At the master’s level, universities provided extensive training for professionals in the fields of theology, law and medicine. Among the earliest universities were the University of Bologna, the University of Paris, and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

 

The Reformed Church

The Protestant Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, led to a major shift in the educational role of the church. Luther was himself a highly educated man and an educator of men, serving as a theology professor at the University of Wittenberg. His strong academic background made it possible for him to challenge the teachings of the church, push for a return to the primacy of Scripture, and narrow the gap between clergy and laity. Equally important, by translating the Bible into German, he opened the door for the average person to access the contents of Scripture. He also wrote a series of catechisms which became the foundation for Protestant religious education. In contrast to the catechisms of the Roman church, Luther’s catechism emphasized the teachings of Scripture over the traditions of the church.

Other reformers such as John Calvin, John Knox, and Ulrich Zwingli implemented similar changes throughout Europe. The reformers also relied heavily on the university systems to continue providing theological education for future church leaders and educators. Calvin even developed an educational system that covered rudimentary learning in grammar schools culminating in a high-level university degree. On a local level, churches began educating the laity through classes and pulpit-based instruction.

Ultimately, the reformation sought to achieve two educational goals.  The first was to expose the false (unbiblical) teachings of the Roman church.  The second was to provide correct (biblical) teachings through multi-level, Scripture-based instruction.

 

The Modern Church

Riding on the wave set forth by the Reformation, the modern church has continued in much the same vein as the reformers, particularly when it comes to pursuing similar education goals.  Methodologically, the modern church saw the rise of new and creative ways of educating the church population.  The emergence of Protestant denominations was met with the establishment of seminaries that not only provided biblical training but also education in the unique traditions and distinctives of each denomination. In the United States, institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton all began as training centers that provided seminary education for clergy professionals.

Although the university remained the primary place for theological education, the modern period saw early, albeit humble, attempts to train people at the parish level.  Later, the rise of public, or state-sponsored, education limited (or even eliminated) the religious contents of the curriculum.  This forced local church to step up to the plate and provide for people what public schools did not.  These parochial schools were set up by Catholics and Protestants alike. Furthermore, this period also saw the birth of the Sunday School Movement. One of Sunday School’s earliest pioneers, Robert Raikes (1736-1811), saw the need to keep slum children from a life of crime by providing basic education every Sunday (due to the absence of child labor laws, many children worked during the week).

John Wesley developed a simple, yet comprehensive, method of training (hence the name, Methodist) that provided theological education for individuals from the harvest, for the harvest.  Lay evangelist D. L. Moody also established Bible training institutes that emphasized outreach, evangelism, and missions. Campus ministries such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade for Christ sought to evangelize the lost and disciple believers without with distractions of actually operating colleges and universities.

Today, congregations of all shapes and sizes offer a variety of classes, workshops, discipleship programs, leadership training and other similar programs all aimed at providing the best possible religious and theological education to every member of the church. Denominations and missions agencies alike provide numerous opportunities for theological education on multiple levels of organizational involvement.

 

II. Analysis and Application of the Major Tenets of Theological Education

A.            The Key Tenets of Theological Education

By understanding the purpose and history of theological education, we are able to extract the principles that should undergird our mandate to continue educating God’s people.  These principles form the key tenets of theological education, which are as follows:

 

Theocentricity

 

If theological education is to remain biblical, it must always center on the person of God. Furthermore, it has as its focus God’s will, purpose, and plan for humankind. Those who presume to teach God’s people are not free to pursue their own agenda nor employ educational methods that do not properly reflect the nature and character of God.

Theological education aims to make God known as he truly is. In the Shema Yisrel, the great Jewish prayer and declaration of faith, the hearer is invited to know that, The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). In knowing this, the proper response is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Jesus affirms this declaration, referring to it as the greatest of all commandments (Matthew 22:38). Even today, any attempt to educate believers must have God as its focal point.

 

Intentionality

 

Theological education is not merely another institutional program designed as an afterthought to keep church people busy. Nor is it meant to simply fill people with knowledge, for knowledge by itself tends only to puff people up (1 Corinthians 8:1). The ministry of teaching is intentional in that it must be imbedded in the DNA of every church from the onset.

Biblical education does not just happen. Neither should it happen only when it is convenient. When Jesus told the apostles to make disciples, he did not say, if you have time, teach them. Instead, he put teaching at the core of the discipleship-making process. Educating believers intentionally played a major role in the fulfillment of the Great Commission in the early church. Conversely, the medieval church faltered in this area and as a result, there was a failure to raise the kind of believers and churches that conformed to the biblical standards of discipleship.

 

Responsibility

Theological education functions within a network of dedicated participants. Each participant is given a set of responsibilities for which he or she is accountable. Faithful execution of such responsibilities is critical to the educational task. It is also important to understand that each person’s responsibility is valuable and crucial for success. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, reminded them,

 

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded accordingly to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

 

Teachers must be willing to submit to study, invest time in preparation, and be involved in the lives of learners. Conversely, learners must be willing to submit to the disciplines of learning. They must be aware of the trust placed upon them and not misuse what they know.

 

Reproducibility

 

Any movement is only one generation away from extinction. Take the Shaker movement of the 1700s. Aside from a few who still sympathize with its beliefs, the movement itself is pretty much dead. A major problem is that Shakers were committed to a life of celibacy and therefore, they did not have children (some opted for adoption, but this practice eventually declined). So when the last of the Shakers died, so did the movement.

The church today cannot afford to have celibate congregations. Paul, encouraging his spiritual son, Timothy, admonished him when he wrote, And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). Educating believers and raising leaders is a perpetual mission. So in developing a program for theological education, we must incorporate reproducible systems that will guarantee that the work of the church will outlive us.

 

Simplicity

 

Theological education must allow an entry-point for people who are at various stages in their spiritual journey. In this sense, it must be a program simple enough for maximum participation and involvement. Not to be confused with being simplistic, a simple educational system gives learners exactly what they need to grow appropriately at the level they are in, while being challenging enough to motivate them to pursue further growth. When we give someone too much too soon, they may tend not to even begin the process at all, and therefore never attain to higher levels of growth and maturity.

The educational system of any organization must include a chain, or web, of mentors and protégés, who are each learning and teaching at the same time. To follow Paul’s model, he told the Corinthians, Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Following the example of a reliable mentor is simple enough to follow, yet effective enough to yield great results. We should not, therefore, overlook the coaching model of teaching and leadership development.

 

B.            Theological Education and the Mission of Word International Ministries

Before concluding this presentation, let us consider the role of theological education in the mission of Word International Ministries (WIN). Specifically, we need to identify the challenges we face in implementing an educational system that is biblical, effective, efficient, and reproducible.

 

Foundation

The educational system employed by WIN must be built on the foundation of Scripture.  Rather than reinventing the wheel, we need to ride on what is already set forth in the Bible, and remain committed to its mandate. The challenge is to keep our focus biblical at every step of the learning process.

 

Orientation

In our system, every individual and congregation must become familiar with our philosophy and approach to theological education and leadership development. While churches should certainly have the freedom to execute training programs that fit their ministry context, at its core, it must remain consistent with the mission of WIN.

 

Connection

Theological education ought to be tied into everything we do at every level of our organization. We must incorporate learning in the home, in local churches, in districts, in regions, and in organizational leadership.  It is important that we remain a community of learners if our movement is to remain a viable part of God’s work.

 

Motion

A good plan requires a good program, and a good program needs effective implementation. However, in putting a good plan to motion, we need to guard against gimmicks and short-lived fads that yield poor, and sometimes disastrous, results. Instead, we need to fully understand the needs of our leaders and churches, and develop a system that empowers them to see the Great Commission fulfilled wherever it is they are. Furthermore, we need to identify the resources necessary for success, as well as the channels through which they move, from the most senior leader down to the newest candidate for discipleship.

 

Implementation

Fulfilling the Great Commission is not always easy, yet we must resolve to implement an educational system that serves as a proper response to the mandate given to us by God. Someone said that ninety percent of good ideas are left and forgotten at the conference room. Imagine what would happen if every one of those ideas was actually implemented? Throughout this symposium, we will listen to many great ideas that will undoubtedly have an amazing impact in the mission of our organization. Yet our work will not be done until we commit to seeing these ideas fleshed out in our churches and in the lives of our members.

 

Conclusion:

 

As with every endeavor, we begin with the end in mind. As teachers, we ask ourselves, What do we want our members to look like once they have gone through our program of theological education? The Apostle Paul best described the ideal Christian disciple when he offered this prayer for the Ephesians:

 

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

 

May every member of Word International Ministries likewise be empowered by the Holy Spirit, have a heart in which Christ feels at home, grow deep in the understanding and experience of God’s love, and be made complete with His power.

 

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Bibliography

Blackaby, Henry and Richard. Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda. Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2001.

 

Cole, Neil. Cultivating a Life for God: Multiplying Disciples Through Life Transformation Groups. Carol Stream, IL: Church Smart Resources, 1999.

 

Cully, Iris and Kendig, eds.  Harper’s Encyclopedia of Religious Education. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, 1990.

 

Groom, Thomas H. Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, 1980.

 

May, F. J. The Book of Acts and Church Growth: Growth Through the Power of God’s Holy Spirit. Cleveland, TN: Pathway Press, 1990.

 

Miciano, Ed. The Ministry of Coaching: Mentoring Leaders for the Harvest. Pacifica, CA: Bridgepoint Publishers, 2009.

 

Seymour, Jack and Donald E. Miller. Contemporary Approaches to Christian Education. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1982.

 

Unger, Merril F. The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.

 

Vine, W. E., ed. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985.

 

Westerhoff, John H. Will Our Children Have Faith? San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, 1976.

 

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Discussion Questions:

1. Are our educational goals fully in line with the mandate set forth by God in Scripture? What evidence do we have for this? Have we strayed from the biblical mandate and model in any way?

 

2. What challenges do our pastors face in their pursuit to provide good theological education for their churches? What limitations do churches our church have to work with? What opportunities need to be tapped?

 

3. In what ways can we insure that theological education is imbedded in the DNA of our church planting program? How can we help existing churches jump start systematic education programs where none exists? What resources do our pastors and churches need to succeed?

 

4. Where do we go from here? What do we want to accomplish during this symposium? What should we do after this symposium? What challenge do we put before our regions, our districts, our churches, and our pastors?