Healthy churches are vital to the Great Commission. That’s why One Challenge is invested in creating and sustaining healthy churches and her leaders. One avenue OC does this is in partnership with other organizations that do the same.
The Global Proclamation Congress for Pastoral Trainers (GProCongress) connects, unites, and strengthens pastoral trainers in order to better deliver training to the world’s 2 million-plus undertrained pastors. In June, One Challenge worker Keith helped the in facilitation and execution of a gathering of 3,000 pastors and trainers from around the world in Thailand, most coming from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
A Global Picture
Four encouraging facts about the growing world and growing Christianity make the need for training pastors more evident than ever. Dr. Ramesh Richard, president of RReach and convener of the GProCongress, reminded participants of these realities:
- The world population has reached 7.4 billion people, and our efforts to reach them must accelerate along with population growth.
- Each day, 50,000 new believers are baptized, creating a need for 1,000 more trained pastors to shepherd them well.
- In the next four years, 5 million new faith communities will be planted, yet at the current rate, up to 70 percent of them will fail in the first year.
- While at least 2.2 million pastoral leaders are functioning as shepherds, only 5 percent of them are trained for pastoral ministry.
Training Leaders
The Thailand congress empowered leaders to mentor and train new pastors through multiple angles and methods. The large sessions highlighted a juxtaposition of unhealthy churches, pastors, and societies with healthy churches, pastors, and societies. It’s important to identify the problems of unhealthy groups before knowing and using the right tools to move that unhealthy group to a state of health. Other large sessions dove into theology and biblical principals.
“Eight workshops with different themes were held during the afternoons covering biblical, theological, spiritual, missional, cultural and educational engagement in light of the opportunities and obstacles in pastoral training,” Keith says.
The gathering was really just the beginning for these 3,000 influencers. Dr. Richard encouraged participants to apply the principles and methods they learned in order to train healthy pastors.
Continued Training Online
A large part of the continued success of these pastors will be through the online training on GproConnext.com. The website is a meeting place to share advice, encourage each other, provide materials, coaching, strategy, and accountability.
One speaker says: “Throughout the next four years and beyond, GproConneXt will play the role of joining the best of the formal and informal training sector and putting both sides on an equal level.”
There is a lot of work ahead of these pastors and trainers. Through prayer and a support system, it’s possible to see better-trained pastors and leaders.
Pray with One Challenge
- As these pastor trainers return home pray that the enthusiasm and vision that they developed at the GProCongress will not wane.
- Being a “working congress” the participants spent many hours in discussion together and planning how the congress’ principles could be applied in their future work. Most committed to five year goals for training of more pastors and developing more pastor trainers. Pray for creativity and stamina.
- That the follow up website, GProConneXt.com, will be well use and profitable to the trainers.
Partnering & Bridge Building
One Challenge is an international mission sending agency empowering local church ministry in more than 100 countries around the world. We serve, equip, and connect the body of Christ to advance God’s kingdom among all people. We engage in strategic partnerships out of a conviction that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.