United Methodist Bible College in Rwanda

The College will provide two years of biblical and theological training for pastors and lay leaders.

Although the Rwanda Provisional Conference is experiencing a significant amount of membership growth, the majority of pastors have little or no formal training in Bible, United Methodist, and theological matters or pastoral skills. Consequently, most pastors are not adequately equipped provide effective leadership in teaching their congregations knowledgably about biblical and theological topics. Rwanda does not presently have a school for training pastors and laity and most pastors and congregation members cannot afford to travel to or attend United Methodist seminaries in other locations.

The project will provide an affordable and convenient means of providing needed education for clergy and laity. The Bible College will feature an ongoing modular two-year training curriculum and classes for all pastors and congregation leaders, who can receive either a certificate or degree depending on their level of accomplishment. pastors and lay leaders will also be provided informational material which can be used for Bible education in their local congregations. The school will allow pastors to study while continuing to serve their local churches.

The primary goal of the Bible College is to provide a high level of training for pastors and laity in Bible, pastoral skills, administration, United Methodism, and evangelism. This will stimulate the creation of new ministries for social and economic justice as well as human needs, will create vital churches that can sustain themselves and their clergy leadership, and will produce numbers of highly trained clergy and lay who can assume responsible leadership positions in the Rwanda Conference, the Central Conference, and the General Church.

Success of the project will be measured by: 1. An increase in ministries to the local community initiated by the local United Methodist Church (goal-15%) 2. An increase in the number of persons answering the call to Christian ministry (goal-25%) 3. An increase in the number of United Methodist churches that are self-sufficient (goal 50%) within three years. 4. An increase in church plantings an an annual basis (30%)