Abstract
Theological training is in a crisis worldwide. Although the role that Theological Seminaries have fulfilled is acknowledged, there is a growing concern about the ability of these institutions to serve the upcoming generations of Christian leaders. Some warn they may not be well tailored for our post-modern age. Many people feel that the Seminary as an institution is in danger of extinction due to irrelevancy. Seminaries, in general, are perceived as not connecting to the needs of today’s church.
The Auckland Park Theological Seminary (ATS), whose training is the subject of this research, is not excluded from this concern of the Church for relevant theological training. Many pastors of the AFM of SA are of the opinion that the training offered at the ATS does not effectively train pastors for the ministry.
The purpose of this research is to investigate and describe how pastors who studied at the ATS experienced their theological training, as well as to offer guidelines to the Church and the ATS to develop a more effective model for theological training.
Semi-structured, phenomenological interviews were conducted with a number of pastors. These interviews were taped with their permission. The question asked during each interview was: “How do you experience the theological training offered at the ATS as preparation for the ministry?”.
The research has revealed a number of themes and sub-themes that should be addressed by a new model for theological training. They are as follows:
• There is a need of a thorough theological education as foundation, especially in the areas of Bible knowledge and Dogmatics.
• The focus of the training is mainly cognitive and not practical. There should be a greater emphasis on the “how” of doing ministry.
• The respondents indicated that they have a need that their own spiritual gifts and ministries should be developed.
• They experience a lack of training in interpersonal skills. There is especially a need for training on how the pastor’s family should effectively function in ministry.
• The research has shown that the ATS should take co-responsibility to develop the character and spirituality of their students.
• The students expressed a need that the lecturers should be their mentors.
• The greatest needs were in the areas of management and ministerial skills. The students felt that they were not adequately prepared in the areas of leadership, management of personnel, team building, developing a vision for ministry, marketing and funding, preaching and communication skills, how to mobilize the members of their churches, the Missiological purpose of the Church, youth – and children’s ministry, the planning of church services, music and worship, technical skills such as video productions, the use of multimedia, and computer skills, and general skills such as the practice of the sacraments, hospital visitation, and the role of statistics.
• The research has shown that the students have a need for specialized training in accordance with their gifts and ministries.
Based on these results, guidelines are then offered for a more effective model for theological training.
Dr. B.J. Geyser