An exciting new partnership
Commission is partnering with Union School of Theology to deliver leadership and theological training
Based in Wales, Union School of Theology (UST) is led by Mike Reeves, an author and theologian whose ministry has strengthened the church across streams and denominations. Mike’s book, ’The Good God’ has done more in shaping my personal understanding of The Trinity, than any other book I have read. Therefore, when I was asked to become the next Director of Training, with a remit to broaden and expand what we offer to our leaders in their ongoing development, I was eager to investigate how we might work alongside UST.
We have seldom ’sent’ our leaders off to seminaries or Bible colleges to be trained, having a strong conviction that leaders are grown from within the church, as their godly character and fruitfulness in ministry are proven. However, in the day and age in which we live, the task of the preacher and pastor has become increasingly challenging, as we seek to engage a secular culture, that looks upon The Bible as outdated and irrelevant to our post-modern age. We need to help one another, to preach this ancient and unchanging truth, in ways that address the questions our generation is asking, and which celebrates the kindness and victory of Christ, who is calling all people to Himself. It is my strongly held conviction, that this partnership with UST will add tremendous momentum to our mission to raise up and train more leaders to declare the whole counsel of God, to peoples across the nations.
The depth and richness of Union’s theology combined with a compelling vision to see the local church strengthened in gospel centred ministry has been captivating to see. The Learning Community model makes accessible to a wider audience the outstanding scholarship of Union, thus multiplying the potential for leaders to be rigorously trained in situ. We don’t need to ’send’ our leaders away to seminary in order to receive world class training in The Scriptures and theology, because this model, brings 'the seminary' into the local church, it’s very exciting!
