Description of MCPI
Defining The Multi-Church Pastor Institute (MCPI)
1. Defining our DNA:
1.1. We are a parachurch organization. We are not a church. We are not competing with existing churches. We are not seeking to set up a church.
We are an organization that desires to come along side of the existing church to help it grow and become strong so that it can carry out its mission of making disciples of every nation.
1.2. We are non-denominational. This is crucial. We see the church of Jesus Christ as larger than any one denomination. We seek to work with all denominations and in this way seek to demonstrate the unity of the body of Christ.
1.3. We are Africa based but not Africa limited. Our focus is to strengthen the African church. However, we realize that the multi-church pastor (MCP) situation exists in other parts of the world and if God so directs we will also seek to help those churches minister in that context.
1.4. We are multi-church context focused. There are many other organizations that are seeking to train and develop church leadership in general. Although much of our training can be applied to non multi-church situations, our emphasis and target group will be those who are ministering in the multi-church context.
2. Defining our Philosophy of Ministry
2.1. Statement of principles.
2.1.1. The local church is God’s primary instrument for the realization of His purposes in any given area.
2.1.2. As the local church knows its own context better than a foreign or outside organization, it will better understand how to ensure the realization of the goal in question in a contextually appropriate way.
2.2. Practical application of principles.
2.2.1. The Multi-Church Pastor Institute will work carefully with individual churches and denominations to apply the principles of leadership training according to the uniqueness of their denominational structure.
2.2.2. The Multi-Church Pastor Institute will develop its programmes through careful and close consultation with a broad spectrum of church leaders in order to be culturally and contextually appropriate.
3. Defining our Destination.
3.1. What is our destination? This is really our vision.
3.1.1. Vision statement: To be the leading provider of quality leadership training and materials for Africa in the multi-church context.
4. Defining our Deeds.
4.1. What must we do and how we will do it to accomplish our vision? This is our mission.
4.1.1. Mission Statement: To train and mentor leaders and develop leadership training materials for Africa with a focus on the multi-church context.
4.1.2. Activities to accomplish our mission:
4.1.2.1. Organizing Multi-Church Pastor Seminars as part of the Multi-Church Pastor Institute. These seminars could be:
- Pastor specific.
- Pastor\Elder team building.
- MCPI initiated.
- Church\Denomination initiated.
4.1.2.2. Teaching Multi-Church Pastors Seminars throughout Africa.
4.1.2.3. Develop a core curriculum. By having all trainers teach a unified curriculum we will be able to maintain our focus on the multi-church context.
4.1.2.4. Mentoring Church leaders.
4.1.2.5. Writing, developing and field testing MCP\Church leadership materials. This will partly be achieved by developing the African Christian Writers’ Workshop.
4.1.2.6. Overseeing translation and printing of materials.
4.1.2.7. Training elders in a MCP context
4.1.2.8. Speaking in Bible Colleges to help prospective pastors catch the vision of training their elders before they get on the field and have their agendas and priorities set in different directions.
