In order to discover those individuals whom God has prepared for the important work of teaching, we wish to proceed in the search for more qualified teachers in each of the ministry centers in the Chicago Church. (James 3:1) Fortunately, the Chicago Church is dedicated to developing gift-based roles according to the Ephesians 4 model and filling these appointments based on the respect and work that individuals have accomplished.

To further ensure our success in establishing the role of teachers, we are taking steps to locate and train teachers who will responsibly bring out old and new treasures from God's word within our local church family. (Matthew 13:52) Since teaching is a spiritual service, we are choosing the requirement of a deacon as a minimum expectation. (1 Timothy 3:8-10)

Different Kinds of Teachers

In the church, there are different categories in the realm of the teacher. A teacher may be the wise and respected voice of the flock and a guide to greater biblical understanding.  He may be an academic individual with understanding of the biblical languages.  A teacher may be the enthusiastic and zealous informer that keeps a flock fed.  Or, a teacher may be a great presenter of material that others have prepared. With these differences in mind, the following delineations will be our standards for the role of teacher, based on sound principles, experience and education.

Core Teacher: Trustworthy, seasoned by battle, mature and wise-a respected sage, able to mentor and knowledgeable in a variety of theological disciplines. He has experience leading ministries, has a Master's level degree or is en route in Master's level studies. These teachers establish the teaching foundation and provide guidance for the other teachers.

Scholar: High in academic knowledge with a doctorate (usually a PHD) and has published respected works in his field. It is possible to do scholarly level work without formal credentials, but credentials are of real value. It should be said that a scholar may or may not necessarily be a seasoned veteran in ministry.

Certified Teacher: Must have a Bible degree or well en route in a particular program. He must be gifted to present teaching material and accepted by the core teachers and the ministry in which he serves.

Presenting Teacher: Able to make clear presentations and adequately inform groups of various sizes. This role requires known experience and testing in presenting the Gospel. He must be able to understand the material developed by the previously defined teachers.

Miscellaneous Teachers: Includes the women who serve as teachers in some of the same categories, mostly to other women. Both the wives of the teachers and the women who achieve biblical and academic understanding can become part of this vital ministry.

Ministry Center Teachers

A ministry center teacher will be required to counter the winds and the waves that come at the church. Therefore, they should belong to one of the first three categories-either a core, scholar or certified teacher.

An evangelist might be found to be a certified teacher, but he might not serve in the role of ministry center teacher. Let's look at current staff members who have some exposure to biblical education or a teaching role. At the current rate, we should be able to consider the following men as certified teachers (some of us already are) within two years: A.T. Arneson, James Becknell, Winston Batino, Phil Lasarsky, Jeremy Lefler, Dave Pocta, Steve Staten, Randy Harris and Verne Wetherholt. Our goal is to be able to have all of the ministry centers set up with a functioning teacher in about eighteen months. If not, we can equip both brothers and sisters as presenting teachers.

Staff Training and Education

The chief goal of educating staff is to understand Scripture in its original meaning and then to apply it to our lives.  Our ministry staff needs a structured track to understand basic theology, exegesis, homiletics (preaching methods), Christian history, world religions, cultural studies, conflict/peacemaking studies and family counseling.

From looking at the list of those obtaining an education, it is evident that we are developing a team that has their area of expertise. This is essential in developing a true proficiency program for all of the speaking staff.

Traditional College Track:  Those who were already about halfway or further into a Master's program will make up the base of training staff.  The ministers who will receive a degree from an accredited college or university are A.T. Arneson, Dave Pocta, Jeremy Lefler, James Becknell and Winston Batino. Beyond that, here are the goals in regard to educating our ministry staff for the next ten years:

• In three years:  Four or more ministers with Master of Arts and one with MDiv.
• In five years:  Six with Masters of Arts, one MDiv. Entire preaching staff through main curriculum.
• In ten years: Six with Master of Arts, one PHD and another Doctorate.

The Proficiency Track: All full-time salaried ministers whose roles involve speaking will be trained for a Bachelor's competence of Christian ministry in The Proficiency Track. Practically, this means they will be able to take and pass college level final exams with A-B grades. Other ministry people, whose role/salary does not require this level, have the same option available to them.

This proficiency track involves progress reports that will be monitored by Steve Staten, even though it will be taught by all the teachers here in Chicago, along with occasional guests. Since this track would require comprehensive tests and writing papers to prove their level of Bible competency, there needs to be progress markers along the way.

To facilitate ministry staff education, there will be scheduled sessions during the year to teach full-time speaking ministry staff. This curriculum will be somewhat similar to the AIM program used by Douglas Jacoby (see www.douglasjacoby.com). Ministry centers should budget to occasionally send their teacher to onsite Bible teaching in the Bible lands (Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy or Egypt). These trips can be accomplished through the International Teacher's Seminar. Similarly, every evangelist should make at least one such trip every ten years. Seeing Israel up close is like adding a fifth Gospel to our understanding. And visiting key sites in Greece or Turkey makes the writings of Paul come alive in 3-D. This approach at educating our ministers will enliven God's word whenever they preach and teach the saints.

Congregational Equipping

At the initiation of the elders and the evangelists, or the call of alarm by the core teachers, material for dissemination will be developed and prepared by the teachers and then presented to the elders and evangelists for review. Besides standard Bible teaching, contemporary issues would be addressed like the following: The cultural affects of modernism and postmodernism, the role of women in the church, the Christian response to violence, the Bible and sexual sins and church discipline. With the heavy load the elders bear as shepherds, and the hard work the evangelist have in administering the Word in evangelism and discipling, there needs to be the safeguard of the teaching ministry.

Those who serve in teaching roles can help the entire congregation. Prayerfully, the various teachers, under the direction of the core teachers, will be able to strengthen each ministry center, help educate the staff and address the occasional winds and waves that affect all of us as Christians.

Steve Staten