TatV Chapter 10&11

Next they move on to the question of how you train and recognise gospel workers. Asking how does God call and raise up teh next generation of pastors and evangelists?

There answer is that it is through pastors and elders identifying people worth watching - those who as we train them inevitably display their godliness and giftedness for ministry. Who have the convictions, character and competency to be set apart for full time service.

Helpfully they remind us through reference to various passages that almost universally in the New Testament gospel workers are set apart by elders and leaders, rather than be experiencing a mythical 'call' themselves. They go further and state that the current generation of church leaders bear the responsibility for the next and must therefore be on the look out for gifted people with the integrity to preach, pastor, and train others. Before providing a helpful set of questions to help identify those leaders.

It is another very helpful chapter and something that has been neglected in churches. Too often we look outside the church because we have failed to raise up, train and disciple those within it and that is a tragedy.

Chapter 11 turns to the idea of a 2 year ministry apprenticeship and has some helpful practical ideas about recruiting, training and sending. But overall I found this chapter a bit of a disapppointment and a rather formulaic way to answer the challenges of the previous chapters. What about those churches who can't afford to run such a scheme or the benefits of developing a network of those in the congregation who as volunteers receive the same inputs - what would that look like and how can churches facilitate that?