A global proclamation ministry documented more than 280,000 more pastors were better trained by the efforts of many pastor-training individuals, churches, organizations and institutions between 2016 and 2020, exceeding its 100,000 goal to reduce the deficit of trained pastors by 5%. Now the vision is to train one million pastoral leaders by 2030 through the coordinated efforts of all trainers of pastors everywhere.
Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Health (RREACH), a global proclamation ministry that aims to share about the Lord Jesus Christ worldwide, held a special announcement on April 18.
Spurred by the conviction that pastoral health affects church health and church health affects societal health, the ministry is committed to multiplying the number of trainers of pastors so as to increase the number of pastors trained, especially where Christ’s Church is growing.
Citing the Resurrection passage of John 21, Dr. Ramesh Richard, president of RREACH and founder of TOPIC (Trainers of Pastors International Coalition), an international coalition of pastoral training organizations accelerating pastoral training where the Church is growing, presented a sermon on living amid the confusing and chaotic world.
The pastor started, “The Lord Jesus asks us a question, the single most important question of our lives, of our love for Him: ‘Do you love Me?’ He is asking the question of the first commandment, ‘You will love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.’ This is a veiled claim to deity.
“Jesus says to Peter, ‘Regardless of the chaos that's on the outside and the confusion that’s inside, the failure that you’ve just experienced—and that I'm going to allow the rest of the world of Trainers of Pastors to listen to someday—do you love Me? I ask for exclusive love. It’s a corrective and restorative love. I ask you three times to resemble your three denials. But the cohesive object of love is Me,’” Dr. Richard added.
“My sister and brothers all over the world, as we look at this particular issue of service to Christ in a world that’s emerging from two years of distress, death and destruction, if nothing else happens, the fundamental spiritual vitality of a love for Jesus must sustain us. It’s from Jesus’ love that He gives us the commission. It’s from our love for Jesus that we fulfill His commission to tend and shepherd the sheep and the lambs,” he said.
He continued, “If the World Evangelical Alliance says there are 50,000 new baptized believers every day, we need 1,000 new pastors and leaders every day to care for them. There’s where you and I come in … We look at the chaos of the outside and the confusion inside and wonder if we can carry on. The only condition for our useful service, the priority condition—‘Do you love Me?’
“It is not the need outside or the gift you have. It is not the history that He has with you, all the talent He has given you, or the resources you have. The only condition is ‘Do you love Me?’ If you say yes to it … ‘Look after My sheep. Tend My lambs.’”
He continued, “I wish that conversation could have finished right there. From love to loyalty, that is also going to be a life-long calling on each one of our lives until God gives us the last breath. ‘Follow Me. You follow Me.’
“Peter gets distracted for a moment and says, ‘What about John?’ ‘That’s none of your business, Peter. You just follow Me. Keep loving Me.’ The fate of John is not our business. ‘Keep loving Me and following Me for your assignments,’” he concluded.
The Global Integrated Report, publicly released in mid-2021, concentrated on the combined, collaborative training of pastoral leaders as the data was gathered from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2020, from attendees of the 2016 Global Proclamation Congress for Trainers of Pastors as well as other individual, organizational and institutional trainers of pastors who were introduced to this follow-up effort after the Congress.
Through non-formal pastoral training, formal theological education, and informal personal mentoring, more than 12,700 events were conducted, with a total of over 275,000 training hours. The report demonstrates that most training was reported in China, Costa Rica, Kenya, India, and the United States, while most hours were spent in Canada, China, India, Peru, and the United States. Most pastoral leaders trained were from China, Egypt, India and Nigeria and the United States.
Dr. Richard announced that the 2030 goal is to cultivate one million pastoral leaders by 100,000 pastor-trainers to reach the next billion individuals with spiritual health. About 10,000 relevant courses and curriculums will be curated to accomplish the goal.
Meanwhile, he stated that the Global Proclamation Commission will continue to function as a platform, pipeline and pollinator to multiply the number of pastor-trainers. He announced the second Global Proclamation Congress for Trainers of Pastors (GProCongress II), will be held on November 12-18, 2023, the Lord willing. The event location is yet to be determined with further investigation.
