The starting and development of local communities of faith, churches, forms the heart and soul of the what we see portrayed for us in the book of Acts. Today we share the same committment to send people who are called and equipped to do this and will devote the majority of their time and energy in the development of both people and local churches

There is a wide range of activities that have historically been a part of the key activities of people sent as international workers. These would include:

• Church Planting
• Church Ministry
• International Churches
• Theological Education
• Leadership Training
• Evangelism
• Working with Diaspora groups such as Chinese, Filipino, etc

Core qualifications for serving in Church Ministry :

There are three areas of consideration

1. Spiritual gift(s)
2. Experience
3. Education

Spiritual Gifts:

We affirm the value and importance of all the gifts of the Spirit.  However, due to the nature of church development activity, there should be demonstrated evidence of giftedness in at least one of the following gift mixes:

• Apostle/ evangelism
• Teaching
• Pastoral

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years experience in church ministry in Canada or equivalent experience in the Apprentice Program.
• Appropriate C&MA licensing appropriate to future ministry.

Education:

• Bachelors Degree
• Alliance History and Thought course
• Masters in Intercultural Studies or its equivalent if undergrad is not a professional ministry degree
• For those with a professional ministry degree, Graduate level minimum/equivalent of Ambrose Seminary Diploma in Intercultural Studies (a total of 30 hours divided in the following areas):
• 12 hours of Bible/Theology
•   3 hours in Spiritual Formation
• 15 hours in Cross Cultural Studies

www.ambrose

Examples from Ambrose Seminary catalogue

Biblical Studies 6

OT 501 Old Testament Foundations

NT 501 New Testament Foundations

Theological Studies 6

TH 501 Introduction to Christian Faith, or

TH 601 Theology in Context, or

TH 711 Christianity and Culture

Practical Theology 3

PT 501 Personal Formation and Development

Intercultural Ministries 15

Five of:

CH 610 Alliance History and Thought

EV 501 Personal and Corporate Outreach

IM 501 Intercultural Competence

WM 501 Mission in a Global Perspective

WM 511 Cultural Anthropology for Intercultural Ministry

WM 613 Third Millennium Trends and Issues in Missions

WM 635 Cross-Cultural Church Planting

• Alternative training to Masters Level studies may be considered in light of the candidate’s background and needed competencies for nature and place of ministry.

First Steps