The Great Imbalance

Posted on June 06, 2023

Last week a compelling article was published in Christianity Today written by Michael Ortiz, International Director of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE), titled “Theological Education Can’t Catch Up.” He pointed out that there is incredible discrepancy between pastors’ theological education in the United States as compared to the majority world:

“The challenge is highlighted when we draw a contrast with the United States, where there is one trained pastor for every 230 people. By comparison, majority world churches have one trained pastor for every 450,000 people. This colossal leadership imbalance will only expand as the majority world church continues to surge and spread. Already, theological education is struggling to keep up, and unless something changes, the gap will only increase in the future.”

The need is urgent!

Whenever I talk to people about our work at Global Action, I make the point that the greatest need in global missions today is the training of pastors and church leaders in their own countries. Christianity is growing rapidly in the majority world, but the need is great in discipling the disciple-makers.

Somewhere around 95 percent of pastors in the majority world have had no theological training according to the Center of the Study of Global Christianity.

As a pastor for close to 40 years, I know what a tremendous impact my theological education has had on my life and ministry. I would not be the pastor I am today if it were not for those men and women who poured into my life during that education. Do our brothers and sisters in the poorest parts of the earth deserve any less?

Our mission is to provide a robust, compelling, affordable education to pastors and leaders in the most under-resourced parts of the earth—a baseline theological education in only nine months that is accessible to pastors in some of the hardest places.

Won’t you help us?

In Christ,

Rick Thompson
President