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Oikia Bible Institute
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Philosophy of Ministry
Student's & Mentor's
Faculty/Adjunct Advisors
OBI's Complete
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Philosophy of Ministry
Theology is not something merely
found in musty libraries; nor is it a virtually dead subject for theologians
and scholars to debate. Theology is life; it shapes our worldview. Whether scripturally correct or incorrect,
everyone views the world through the lens of their particular theology.
For this reason, every believer in Christ must be trained, at some level, in
biblical theology.
Early Church leaders learned
theology and ministry within the context of the local assembly, under the
tutelage of the church elders. Today, the Church is far removed from this
model; and is suffering for it. While our modern seminaries do a fine job
with academia, they cannot effectively teach those ministerial skills gained
only through discipleship and experience. As important as research and
academia is, we also learn through imitation and experience.
In today’s culture, prospective
church leaders generally leave their communities to pursue ministerial training
in distant seminaries. At
least four
problems immediately present themselves in this model: 1) Only a small
percentage of church leadership ever attends seminary; 2) The practical
application or hands-on aspect of discipleship and ministry is
generally overlooked; 3) Students generally have to vacate their current
ministry and livelihood and move to a distant city; 4) Traditional
seminary is expensive.
It is the philosophy of the Oikia
Bible Institute that academic theology is best learned while integrated with
practical ministry. Everything vital to effective ministry (both
academically and practically) can and should be taught within the context of
the local church; thus the name Oikia, the Greek term for family or
household. Oikia Bible Institute is designed to be an “in-house” training
program for the ministry. It is within the context of the local church
that both academic study and practical discipleship occur. This is where we
learn to put our theology to use. Without a solid scholastic basis one
may fall prey to false teaching, and without application one’s ministry is
impotent. Therefore, our educational model is two-fold -- purposefully
focused upon information processing (academics) and experiential learning
(practical ministry).
It is our belief that every church
leader must be trained in both sound theology and practical ministry. Ideally,
every church, even a small congregation, will have multiple trained leaders.
It is not enough that the pastor or pastors are seminary trained. Theology
and ministry is not to be left to one or two or even a few leaders. Paul
charged Timothy to “entrust these things (i.e. these theological truths) to
faithful men, who will be competent to teach others as well” (2Ti 2:2).
This task is not the responsibility of some far off seminary. It is the
responsibility of the local church; specifically, it is the responsibility of church
leadership. Oikia Bible Institute is designed to assist local church
leaders in the accomplishment of this most pressing charge. |
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