The shape of mission is changing. A large proportion of today’s generation has at best only a sketchy understanding of the story of Jesus. And many communities find that an established congregation meeting in a church building on Sundays no longer strikes a chord. You may be among the increasing numbers who feel called to a missional ministry which falls outside traditional understandings of what a church minister does. If you wish to grow in your evangelistic skills or want to establish a pioneering project, the colleges offer a variety of ways to equip you.
 

Regent’s Park College has a partnership with CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training, also based in Oxford, so that if you are looking to be a pioneer, you can draw on the strengths and experiences of both organisations. This enables you to spend time both with others preparing for Baptist ministry and with others from a wide variety of pioneering contexts.

At Northern Baptist College, you can join the other ministers-in-training for their theological study and formation programme, whilst your study will be tailored to reflect on pioneer mission. You will also have a pioneer placement. Alongside this, you will take part in Northern Baptist College’s ministerial formation including their Baptist Leadership Programme that is mostly taught over a number of weekends. Again, you will also have a pioneer placement.

Bristol Baptist College offer a mission-based track to their ministerial formation programme that will help you focus on creative mission and church planting. They work with their local regional association and with Urban Expression to place and support you in a mission team in an urban area of Bristol. This training is bi-vocational, so you will also be working two days a week in another job alongside your mission placement and college programme.

Spurgeon’s College offer a range of evangelism and pioneering special options within their ministerial formation programme. These can be accessed at both their south London campus and their Midlands Hub. 

Alternatively, as a pioneer or evangelist, you can train to become a Recognised Local Minister. The training is less rigorous than for accredited ministers, and the resulting recognition relates only to your immediate setting. Working towards RLM status will give you a foundation in theology, roughly set at 'A' level standard. You cover foundational topics such as the Bible, pastoral leadership and spirituality, but you can supplement these with training that is specific to pioneering and evangelism, such as the Crucible course mentioned below.

Pioneer training for all

If you are looking for training in pioneering but are not seeking accreditation or recognition as a Baptist minister, you can join the Crucible programme run by Urban Expression. They offer six modules that explore the place of Christianity and church in contemporary society, and how the gospel can be modelled and shared in marginal communities. Each module is taught over two Saturdays on a rolling programme. The Crucible course is mostly held online. You will be supported in finding a suitable pioneering placement.