How can the Majority World get trained pastors?
Most can’t go to seminary. An innovative nonprofit is filling the gap.
Happy Re-Forma certificate recipients at a graduation ceremony in Kisumu, Kenya.
“Re-Forma gave us the language to defend biblical truth and the tools to live it." —a pastor from Kenya
When one is facing an overwhelming global problem, one has to start somewhere and hope that the effort snowballs over time.
Here’s one such overwhelming problem for the church: there are about 5 million pastors globally, across all Christian traditions. Only about 250,000 of them have formal theological training.
In many areas, pastors have good intentions and a heart for God but limited Bible knowledge. Sometimes, they don’t even have good intentions, viewing ministry as a pathway to personal gain.
Various organizations are seeking to improve the knowledge and skills of untrained pastors. Today I focus on one innovative effort that has gone worldwide.
In 2017, Manfred Kohl, a widely respected global leader in theological education who previously served internationally with the Overseas Council and World Vision), assembled a small group of colleagues at his home to develop a plan for strengthening the quality of pastors. The group knew that sending everyone to Bible college was impossible. Instead, they agreed to develop a set of competencies defining what every pastor should know, do, and be in order to perform effectively. The related outcomes (originally 35, now 37) are simple but comprehensive, covering prayer, theology, Bible knowledge, counseling, church administration, social media, and more.
From that meeting, an organization called Re-Forma emerged. Led by Reuben van Rensburg, former president of the South African Theological Seminary, it has developed training materials and a quality assurance process, implemented by hundreds of volunteer facilitators. As of this time, the Re-Forma outcomes had been translated into 78 languages, and 4,474 groups of trainees had been formed in 90 countries, including over 1,000 in Nepal alone.
Re-Forma is now legally registered as a charitable organization on every continent. His oversight board includes 15 experienced leaders in theological education.
Re-Forma is not a seminary or Bible college and does no direct teaching of pastors. Rather, it establishes the standards and holds quality assurance institutes to equip facilitators, who then lead the groups of pastors receiving training.
In addition, Re-Forma has also negotiated directly with the governments of Rwanda and Kenya, seeking to address concerns that have led those two countries to crack down on untrained and uncertified pastors.
Van Rensburg shared with me an impact report from a Re-Forma national coordinator in Kenya, which describes the improvements in pastoral ministry in enlightening detail. Reported impacts in Kenya and neighboring countries include:
Congregations reporting clearer gospel witness as trained pastors have discontinued syncretistic rituals
Redesign of children’s ministries to use curriculum-based programs
Pastors teaching publicly on gender equity as a biblical mandate
Greater depth in preaching
Adoption of inductive Bible study methods by lay church members
Establishment of men’s discipleship groups, which have reduced family breakdown
I asked Van Rensburg to explain more about how this amazing undertaking is playing out around the world.
Q&A with Reuben van Rensburg
How are you getting people interested in Re-Forma’s program?
We use a range of methods, including regular posts on social media, promotion by our national coordinators, displaying our material and making presentations at international conferences, newsletters, brochures, and word of mouth. We also invite key leaders to our Quality Assurance Training Institutes.
Many have tried to address this problem. Why is your approach so popular?
The 37 competency outcomes were established (and later reviewed) by a group representing a wide array of countries and cultures. Many organizations and denominations seeking to address this global crisis have realized that the need for a global standard is critical. The outcomes can be demonstrated at any academic level, from the absolute grassroots to those who have already graduated from a formal institution. They are simple yet comprehensive. Furthermore, the program is free, except for $5 for the certificate awarded to those who successfully demonstrate the outcomes.
How do facilitators ensure that the pastors have met the 37 standards acceptably?
When facilitators enroll their group, they receive several documents to help them, including one with the assessment guidelines for every outcome. When we travel to various countries to train the facilitators, we spend a lot of time on assessment, so as to maintain the global standard. After facilitators send us the final assessment sheets, we phone a few of their students to do spot checks on the quality.
What is the current situation in Rwanda and Kenya?
We have met with the Rwanda Governance Board on three occasions. At the last meeting, we presented a statement signed by 28 denominational leaders who support using our certificate (underwritten by the World Evangelical Alliance) as the standard for ministry. However, despite their verbal support for what we are doing, the government has not changed the law they promulgated in 2018, which says that pastors must have a bachelor’s degree. We appointed the current general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of Rwanda as our national coordinator there, and he continues to make efforts on our behalf to resolve the issue. Nevertheless, the government has closed thousands of churches, and the pastors are desperate for a solution that will allow them to reopen.
In Kenya, where we have two national coordinators, the legal framework has historically not referred to the regulation of churches, causing great confusion and uncertainty for pastors who want to register their churches. We have had 29 of our best facilitators trained by the government as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) practitioners and have published a Policy on RPL through the office of the Kenya National Qualifications Framework (KNQF), but the situation remains fluid. An independent group called the Association of Pentecostal Vocational Training Institutions of Kenya has drafted a bill, which they hope Parliament will pass, that would assign regulation of churches to a parastatal body with 75% representation from the churches and 25% from the government. Re-Forma has met with its leader and will monitor developments.
What is driving the enormous response in Nepal? How are you keeping up with demand, and what results are you seeing?
The Protestant church in Nepal is experiencing significant growth, resulting in a great need for trained pastors. We launched Re-Forma in Nepal last September and held a Quality Assurance Training Institute for our (at that stage) 63 facilitators. The attendance was so overwhelming that we immediately appointed the previous general secretary of the National Churches Fellowship of Nepal as our national coordinator, and he has done an amazing job in helping to enroll over 1,000 groups in a very short time. We will conduct a second Quality Assurance Training Institute there in August. The results are amazing, as exemplified by this testimony from Nepali pastor Birendra Keshar Rai:
“The 37 outcomes of Re-Forma have become more than a framework—they are the foundation of my walk with God and my ministry to others. These outcomes guide me to rightly handle God’s Word, share my faith clearly and courageously, lead others into discipleship and spiritual maturity, and persevere in faith, holiness, and humility even in the face of opposition.
“Re-Forma is not just a training course—it is my spiritual compass. It gives clarity when I’m confused, strength when I’m weak, and boldness when I’m afraid.
“Each outcome lights a fire in my heart and fuels my feet to keep walking to the next village, the next house, the next heart. Even when no one listens, I know that God sees, God speaks, and God is with me.
“You are not only teaching theology; you are sending light into the darkest valleys.”
Information on how to support Re-Forma is available here.