Training

MAP (Ministry Associate Programme)

MAP is a training course that equips Christians to serve God by making disciples. It was originally started to train Ministry Associates (church interns) by a group of churches with a similar ministry philosophy. By training interns together they could pool their resources. Since then it has expanded to include those who are not working full-time for a church but would like to be further trained in ministry.

What do you learn?

The MAP curriculum has three elements: bible handling, theology & ministry skills
* Bible handling: this is a significant component, where trainees will learn how to hear God speak through the Bible, by being clear on the meaning and application of the text. Across the course trainees will learn to handle different genres of the Bible and practice leading bible studies and giving talks.
* Theology: trainees will read through some theological books. A particular focus is biblical theology, how every part of the Bible reveals the Gospel of Christ. In addition they will read through Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrine, a chapter a week.
* Ministry skills: trainees learn and practice skills in different areas of ministry beyond bible studies and talks – areas like pastoral counseling, evangelism, reading the Bible 1-1 and spiritual disciplines.

Format & commitment

Trainees meet Wednesday afternoons 2-5pm at St Andrew’s Church, usually a group of 10-15 people from different churches. Facilitation is shared among the pastors of participating churches. In addition, MAP requires about 4-6 hours preparation during the week. When a trainee is scheduled to give a talk this will of course be more.

MAP meets in term time – September to June, with 2-3 weeks break during Christmas and Easter. It has a rolling curriculum of two years, with those in their first year and second year training together. But people often only join it for a year or a few terms, depending on their availability. The ideal time to start is in September, as the bible handling in terms 2 and 3 builds on the foundation of term 1 for each year, but this is not essential.

Who is it for?

MAP is a great way to provide training for church staff and interns. But over the years many other church members who are not in full-time ministry but wanted to be further equipped have found the course useful – students on a gap year, retired people, stay-at-home parents, those with more flexible working hours, people in-between jobs etc. It will equip you to serve God in your local church – in CG leading, 1-1 discipleship and so on, while also being good preparation if you are considering full-time ministry in the future.

If you are interested and want to discuss more whether this would be suitable for you, please chat to Niels or Kevin