Church Ministries Institute

Birth Of A Concept
It is evident from Scripture that the expansion of Jesus' Church should be through church planting. It is not sufficient to merely give out the gospel or make converts. The responsible church planter will establish local churches which can continue the nurture and care of new believers. It is thus mandatory that the church planter be vitally involved in training pastoral leadership for the churches he is starting.

To meet this need, church planter Marc Blackwell began the Pastor's Training Programme in 1976 in Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe]. Over a four year period the concept developed into the Church Ministries Institute. Marc Blackwell further developed the CMI programme in South Africa with the teamwork of other church planters. CMI is now in operation in three major cities of South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban) and is being used by church planters serving under several organizations. The programme is successfully providing quality trained men who are pastoring churches begun by church planters.

Biblical Ministries Worldwide began using CMI in 1985 in its church plant in Kempton Park. Those involved have moved in their thinking from a programmed approach to a discipleship philosophy of ministry.

In 1998, CMI of Johannesburg signed an agreement granting it Associate School status with Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, now Northwest University: Potchefstroom Campus. This agreement allows CMI of Gauteng to offer its students BA & Honours Degrees through NWU. Graduation from a degree programme at NWU, however, is not equivalent to completion of CMI. CMI involves much more than just an academic degree.

A Unique Approach
CMI's Purpose. CMI is a church-based concept for the comprehensive training of anyone desiring to be equipped to serve the Lord in the local church, be it teachers, small group leaders, youth workers, deacons, pastors, missionaries, church planters, & church elders.

Discipleship Is Focal. The core philosophy of CMI is simply "discipleship." Discipleship is a philosophy of ministry that controls everything you do. Discipleship is a life-long process of learning. More than just filling the head with knowledge, it is also skill (hands) and most importantly, godly character and passion (heart). It is the process of learning about Christ and how to live for Him, and it is a never-ending process of demonstrating and imparting the Christian life to others (Matt 28:19-20).

CMI Covers Three Phases of Discipleship. Discipleship is the whole, and CMI is a part of the whole. When people first become Christians, they learn how to follow Christ with all the associated Christian lifestyle, skills, and knowledge. They then enter a phase of becoming a leader of younger believers, a time when CMI can become a part of their life (see diagram below). CMI will disciple them into being leaders in the local church at whatever level they desire. CMI is followed by lifelong learning.

CMI Is An Approach Used By Local Churches. CMI is a tool that is employed by the local church, not an institution its members are sent to. It can be employed simultaneously in numerous churches. This multi-campus employment means that it is de-centralised in location and local in application.

CMI is local church controlled. Learning takes place in the context of the local church under the supervision of the leadership of that local church. Therefore, each church is considered to be a separate campus together making the sum of "CMI of Gauteng."

Multiple Levels of Training. There are three levels in CMI:

• Worker - This learner is trained to be a teacher in a Sunday School class, small group leader, youth worker, basic counsellor etc. On completion of this level the learner is awarded the CMI Bible Worker Certificate.
• Leader - This learner is trained to be a more developed leader than the Christian Worker. This person could be a Sunday School Superintendent, coach of small group leaders, youth group leader, deacon, member of a church planting team, counsellor in most of the counselling needs in the local church etc. On completion of this level the worker is awarded the CMI Bible Leader Certificate.
• Overseer - This learner is able to defend the doctrinal statement of the local church, lead a church planting team, pastor a church, serve as a senior elder, is able to be ordained, coach other leaders of all levels, counsel in major problem situations etc. On completion of this level the leader is awarded the CMI Biblical Overseer Certificate.

Training Along The Way. CMI's course of learning is designed for those involved in a full-time secular career. If it was an academic institution, and it is not, it would be described as a part time course of study. It is distinct from a full time academic institution in that the learner is mentored and active in service while studying academically. This is a more holistic or balanced approach to learning. In this way the learner will not be able to race ahead academically despite lacking character or ministry skills. A person whose character is not developing will not be allowed to advance in the other two areas until he deals with the character issues. Lack of character is more a cause of failure in ministry than are lack of skills or lack of head knowledge.

Pros And Cons. With every concept of education there are advantages and disadvantages. Our advantage is that we can be more personal and time intensive with a learner. When the discipleship philosophy impacts a church, on an ongoing basis members are both learning from someone who is older in the Lord and giving out to those who are younger. This provides learning and serving opportunities in both directions.

Our disadvantage is that we are more limited in resources and size of faculty. One immediate impact of this is that our rotation through our academic curriculum takes longer. In contrast, mentoring and internship opportunities are able to adapt more quickly to the individual's needs. In this way we are more student oriented than a fulltime academic institution.

Teaching Christians How To Think. In the academic situation, the "information dump" style of teaching fails as soon as the situation changes and the student now needs to attend a seminar to know what to think in the new situation. CMI is designed to develop a learner's thinking abilities so he can think biblically. This means he not only knows what the Bible says but how to apply that in a new and changing situation.

In our minds this is how the Lord Jesus taught his disciples. The means we use to teach how to think is the Socratic discussion model of learning. A group of learners individually study a subject and then come together to discuss it under the guidance of a facilitator. The facilitator develops their thinking by not giving answers but rather leading the learners to apply what they have studied so they can arrive at conclusions that would be within Biblical parameters.

In the mentoring situation. The learner is given opportunity to explain the choices he or she has made and the consequences thereof. The mentor guides them to learn from that and apply the Bible to the next set of choices by asking questions, rather than simply giving out answers. In this way the learner's mind is developed as they learn how to think through life's situations Biblically and arrive at God's mind for that situation by employing all the tools available to them, most important of all being the Bible.

In the ministry skills situation. The learner is given the opportunity to learn by doing, while under supervision. Sometimes they need to be first shown how to perform, or instructed how. Others they can go and do and learn simply by trial and error. The mentor or supervisor will do what is necessary for them to learn how to do things and then how to think through making changes to what they are doing.

Through all this, it can be seen that the guiding principle of CMI is discipleship. Specifically it is teaching a person how to fish, rather than merely providing them with fish. These leaders will be able to carry the church forward into the next generation, in dependence on the Lord.

For more information on CMI, contact the following:

• Pastor Alastair Butterworth (Believers Bible Church, Boksburg) - 082-762-9400
• Pastor Wayne Gordon (Sandton Bible Church, Douglasdale) - 011-462-3206
• Pastor David Brown (MountainView Bible Church, Glenvista) - 084-580-5647