A Model for effective ministerial program in the Philippines and Ghana Union Conferences : a multiple case study

Abstract

The global Seventh-day Adventist Church mission to bring the everlasting gospel to all the world and to reach the level of every audience is an arduous task. This mission requires a great amount of knowledge and skill from the ministers in leadership and ministry that are spearheading. The quality and not only the quantity of ministerial graduates produced by the training institutions play a major factor in determining the progress and success of the mission in this fast-changing modern society. Ministerial education has been the heart and center for spreading the everlasting gospel. Preparation for ministry and service to the communities of this world started with Christ Jesus Himself (Matt 17:19-22; Luke 9:1-2). The 12 disciples after learning from Christ were successful in spreading the good news to all classes of people during their

time. The 21st-century period has seen a lot of training institutions in different places with the aim of preparing ministers for the needs of the church and the community. A few studies have been conducted on ministerial education in the Philippines and Ghana Union Conferences under the Southern Asia-Pacific and West-Central Africa Divisions of the Seventh-day Adventists. However, it is hard to find a study on how effective ministerial education for undergraduate ministerial students is, especially as they go for 3-4 years of preparation. Furthermore, the effectiveness of ministerial graduates is not the goal of the studies conducted. As ministerial students come out from training to serve, there are demonstrations of inadequacy in knowledge and skills. However, the various findings that study on ministerial training do not have a clear model to help address gaps in ministerial training needs in the undergraduate levels. Thus, there is a concern for the study to create a model that resolves the inadequacies of fresh graduates. This study addresses the problem using a qualitative research method with a multiple case study design. The findings present (a) the curriculum and its structure, whether it is helping ministerial students to be fully equipped; (b) the effectiveness of the ministers in leadership and ministry in the field of service; and (c) a model to help address gaps in the ministerial education in the areas the study focuses.