25% of the Mission Fund is invested in our Pastors College, which lays the foundation for all our Great Commission efforts. The Pastors College equips pastors to lead existing churches as well as establish new ones.
Of 220 graduates since 1997:
- 52 are senior pastors
- 32 have planted churches
- 15 serve in churches outside the U.S.
2010-2011: Training for frontier church planting
Last year the Pastors College focused on providing specialized training for three church planters headed for a country closed to the gospel. Their year of training is now completed and their church-planting work is getting under way. Please keep these men and their families in your prayers.
2011-2012: 23 students from 6 countries
The Class of 2012 includes 23 students (pictured at right), ranging in age from 24 to 56. In addition to the U.S., they come from the Philippines, Germany, Bolivia, England, and the Dominican Republic. Find out more about them at our blog, and please pray that their ten-month experience prepares them well to serve churches around the world.
D.A. Carson teaches on Hebrews
The Pastors College is structured around week-long classes taught by men like Dr. Wayne Grudem, Jerry Bridges, Dr. Mike Bullmore, Dr. John Woodbridge, and Dr. Iain Duguid.
In February 2011, the Pastors College hosted Dr. D.A. Carson to teach a week-long class on the book of Hebrews, attended by almost 100 Sovereign Grace pastors. We weren’t able to record the class, but you can read a few notes and reflections on the class by Tony Reinke, C.J. Mahaney’s research assistant, at his blog and at TweetDeck (scroll down to February 22-25, 2011).
Pastors College preaching workshops
We believe it’s vital that pastors be trained to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). One way we do this is through Preaching Practicums, three-day workshops where Sovereign Grace pastors receive feedback on their preaching. So far we’ve held three: in January 2010, December 2010, and January 2011.
Ian McConnell, senior pastor at Grace Bible Church (Philadelphia, PA), described his practicum experience this way: “I was surprised that although it was in an academic environment, it was so much more than that. It turned out to be an environment where God's Spirit met with us through the preached Word and ministered grace to our lives in some very dynamic and discernible ways.”
Your continued support makes it possible for us to train pastors to preach God’s Word more skilfully. We are deeply grateful for the part you play in these practicums through your giving and your prayers.
Kang Songhwan, Class of 2009
Kang Songhwan is our first church planter in South Korea. When we met
him and his wife, Miran, Songhwan already had ten years of
pastoral experience and a seminary degree, but nevertheless they moved
to Gaithersburg in 2008 to attend our Pastors College.
Songhwan
did a remarkable job of navigating an intensive ten-month study program
in his second language, and after graduating in June 2009 he and his
family moved back to Seoul to plant Lord's Grace Church. This video tells his
family's story and shares some of the grace their new church is experiencing.
Cedric Moss, Class of 2008
Cedric Moss was the senior pastor of Kingdom Life Church in Nassau, The Bahamas, long before he heard of Sovereign Grace Ministries. One day, wanting to better understand the gospel personally and to more passionately preach it to his church, Cedric searched online and stumbled upon Sovereign Grace Ministries. In 2004 Cedric attended our pastors conference as a visitor, hoping to observe from a distance.
In reflecting upon the trip Cedric says,
I was a pastor who was weary in the ministry and skeptical about church associations and networks, having been closely associated with a few and having given up on them. However, to my surprise, in Sovereign Grace I found men who were genuinely interested in me as a pastor, not the size of my church, or getting my church’s name on a list.
Watch his story here or listen to his testimony on C.J. Mahaney's blog.
Christian Wegert, Class of 2008
Wolfgang Wegert survived the Nazi era and faithfully preached the gospel in cold-war Germany. His church, Arche Church, now serves other European churches through television and radio broadcasts, conferences, and leadership training.
In this nine-minute film, Wolfgang and his son, Christian, describe the challenges of preaching the gospel in the land of the Reformation—a land that is becoming more and more secular. They also explain why Christian moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland, for a year to attend our Pastors College.
Christian graduated from the Pastors College in 2008 and now serves on the staff of Arche Church.