“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses
entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
– 2 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV)
OUR MISSION
An international coalition of pastoral training organizations networking to accelerate nonformal pastoral training.
OUR VISION
Every pastoral leader equipped to biblically shepherd Christ’s church.
OUR STRATEGIES
- To promote the multiplication of national trainers of pastors
- To convene consultations for nonformal pastoral training (local, national, and international)
- To coordinate equipping among trainers of pastors
- To apply proven practices for nonformal pastoral training
- To nurture collaborations for nonformal pastoral training
Resulting in pastoral leaders who are Christ-like servants … who biblically shepherd a congregation of believers to fulfill the Great Commission for the Glory of God … by the power of the Holy Spirit.
PREMISES
• A local church is only as healthy as its pastoral leaders.
• Large numbers of pastoral leaders, in contexts where the Church is growing rapidly, need essential ministry training.
• The challenge can best be accomplished by concerted, cooperative action among pastoral equipping organizations.
CORE VALUES
• The Great Commission will not be fulfilled without the effective equipping of pastoral leaders.
• Qualified pastoral leadership is critical to the health of the Church locally and globally.
• Biblical character, knowledge, and skill form the core competencies of effective pastoral ministry in any congregation.
• Cooperation reflects the Body of Christ maximizing human and financial resources.
• The best way to meet the urgent need in the world’s weaker economies is through non-traditional pastoral education methodologies.
• Training local pastoral leaders to equip the saints is the better way of doing missions in today’s world.
Conviction. It is TOPIC if it is built on…
- The premise that an effective way to accomplish the vision is through nonformal training.
- The recognition that Scripture and the church set the training agenda for the development of God’s people.
- The strength of consistent and focused prayer initiatives.
Constituency. It is TOPIC if…
- It is a network of trainers of pastors and pastoral training organizations.
- There is respected leadership in a coordinating group committed to working with the whole body of Christ to equip pastoral leadership who lack essential ministry competencies.
Continuing Process. It is TOPIC if…
- The coordinating group steers the implementation and oversees the fulfillment of the commitments made.
- It is based on research that determines the extent of pastoral training needs, identifies existing pastoral training efforts, and measures effectiveness.
- TOPIC Best Practices for equipping pastoral leaders are researched and promoted on an on-going basis.
- It convenes consultations of pastoral trainers that lead to more and better training commitments that are S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound).