Jesus leads the Church through His Word. In a local church this is expressed through elders who teach the Bible, one or more of whom are set apart to bear the significant preaching responsibility (referred to as ministers, pastors or church leaders). The most important thing a minister/pastor does is preach, so being equipped to preach is the main thing in a minister’s training.
The Trust runs small overnight Residentials for Leaders in Training (ministers/pastors in training and women in ministry) to develop their preaching and/or teaching. There are a number of groups with participants who are at a similar stage in training.
Typically, ministers/pastors in training and women in ministry are funded by the Trust for 3 or 4 years. Grants are given on the basis that a Leader in Training will attend one Residential a year organised and paid for by the Trust. Our experience is that as people get to know and trust one another, they are committed to working hard together on their preaching and teaching. Testimony to this is that the first few groups, having completed their formal training and now serving in leadership roles in churches, continue to meet annually.
The aim is that all of these groups will continue to meet when they have finished their formal training, not only to work on their preaching and Bible teaching, but to embrace the accountability and support these groups give. It is wonderful to see this happening already, because these are the leaders who will develop the vision and strategy for ministry training across Scotland in the years to come.
This document gives more detail of the format of our Residentials:
bonartrust.org 