Ministry is going all pioneer these days. It could be argued that ministry has always been pioneering, but now we are naming it as such and training people for it. Following the Church of England, Baptist colleges are beginning to provide pioneer ministerial formation.
Regent's Park College are beginning a partnership with CMS - Emma Maggs, a ministerial student at Regent's is pioneering the way! (here and scroll down). Anthony Clarke, Tutor in Pastoral Studies says:
Within the Baptist Union it is possible to be ordained as a pastoral minister or as an evangelist - a more pioneering role. And it is possible to prepare for both of these at Regent's. They are not two distinct courses, but rather different emphases within one whole process of formation and training. It is vital that all those being formed for ministry are able to engage with contemporary culture in creative missional ways, and so this thread runs throughout the course. And those who are responding to a call to be evangelists and to work in pioneering ways will need to develop their pastoral understanding and skills. The heart of both emphases will be the integration of character, skills and understanding, but, in addition, to core shared teaching, there will be particular opportunities to develop in both of these ways. We have an exciting and growing partnership with the Pioneer Mission Leadership Training run by CMS (Church Mission Society) in Oxford and overseen by Jonny Baker. Students following the path to be ordained evangelists will join in some of this teaching, with a variety of other people also exploring pioneer ministry, instead of some of the sessions in College. In addition, placements
will be carefully planned to enable students to explore a variety of pioneering mission opportunities.
It is possible to follow a calling to be a pastoral ministry or a pioneer evangelist on both College-based and Congregation-based patterns, and also on either a full time or part-time basis.
The modules with CMS will involve:
Year 1 - Mission spirituality; Mission in Contemporary Society
Year 2 - Pioneer Ministry; Pioneer Ministry Skills
Year 3 - Missional entrepreneurship; Worship for a missional church
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