There’s a push for more practical training for would-be pastors, with hopes a suite of ministry subjects developed by New York pastor Tim Keller’s Redeemer network can be taught at an Australian Bible college.
It was announced recently that the church planting network started by Keller – Redeemer City to City – will be establishing a Bible College in New York.
One of the features of the seminary will be its one year “City Ministry” program, which will focus on the key areas of preaching, pastoring, leadership and missional engagement, taught by practitioners, including Keller himself.
Rather than streaming the classes directly online in Australia, the local arm of Redeemer City to City plans to adapt the course for an Australian context and offer it through a local Bible college.
Pastor Andrew Katay, CEO of the Australian City to City network says while people are free to attend the New York campus of Redeemer Theological School (RTS), there are some drawbacks.
“It’s very expensive. If you’ve got $60,000 spare and you can find a way to live in New York, if you can manage to navigate all of those challenges, that would be a terrific experience…
“The cost [of doing the RTS course] is prohibitive, but in Australia you don’t have to pay anything. So we’re offering the same content through local education providers.”
City to City has been in negotiations with an established local Bible college which will offer the subjects once the course has been developed and accredited by the Australian College of Theology. Eternity understands it is a well-established Bible college based outside of Sydney, although details are yet to be revealed.
The focus on practical subjects is a deliberate move to counter the gap between academic study and daily life in a parish. Andrew Katay says the aim is to have practicing pastors teaching the subjects.
“Academics aren’t preachers. They rarely teach in church, they’re not pastorally responsible for congregations … preaching is best taught by practitioners. It’s different when you’re preaching week-in, week-out and are pastorally responsible for the church.”
While City to City Australia works on adapting the subjects for accreditation in Australia, they’re also looking to pilot a post-graduate “Incubator” program for church planters in the next year. “It’s a series of four units, which together will constitute a Graduate Diploma of Christian Leadership,” says Andrew. “We hope to have 3 to 5 students next year. It’s tiny, early days.”
Photo credit: Robert S. Donovan via Flickr
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