Structure

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Church-Life Component. Apprentices are expected to be deeply devoted to the regular, daily life of our church. This includes regular attendance and participation in:

  1. Sunday morning Worship gatherings and Prayer Meetings
  2. Your Gospel Community Group
  3. Discipleship Classes

We expect and hope that the Lord would accomplish much of the training of future pastors through these basic public gatherings of the church, as Paul told Timothy: “”What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men.” (2 Tim. 2:2). Involvement in the day-to-day life of the church and devotion to the members of the church are essential qualities of an Apprentice and future pastor.

Classroom Component The Apprenticeship Program will formally only meet once a week for 2 hours on Friday mornings (6-8am) for lecture and discussion for roughly 40 weeks out of each year. These lectures will be complemented by reading assignments to aid learning and discussion. Furthermore, apprentices will aim to read through the Bible each year during the program as well as memorize the book of Romans in its entirety. These disciplines can be cultivated more fruitfully as the men gather each week to check their own progress and encourage one another in these goals.

Ministry Component Much of the learning in the final year will come from observation and participation in the ministries of the church (Care Group leading, pre-marital counseling, membership interviews, hospital visitation, Wednesday night preaching, etc.)

Personal Assessment The goal of the program is to affirm men for pastoral ministry, either for service here or for another field. This assessment will begin from the very beginning as apprentices develop personal, mentoring relationships with the pastors through involvement in the program. It will conclude with a formal assessment of the apprentice’s life, faith, leadership and gifts; culminating in a recommendation for next steps for service in this church or another.