If gospel workers are to survive and thrive in mission, they need to engage in thorough cross-cultural training. CMS takes training seriously because we’re about long-term ministry.
The Training and Development Team is based at St Andrew’s Hall in Melbourne. They lead CMS’s residential mission training course and promote mission education around Australia. Here are some of the initiatives that CMS is involved with:
- St Andrew’s Hall—training for long-term mission
- Mentac cross-cultural apprenticeships
- Training for short-term mission
- Mission training for local churches
St Andrew’s Hall
Long-term gospel workers serving with CMS come to St Andrew’s Hall (SAH) in Melbourne for a five-month residential training program. The course helps participants—missionaries-in-training—to prepare for long-term mission, deepening their understanding of the gospel and the biblical basis for mission. They also develop intellectual, spiritual and practical skills for communicating the gospel across cultures, and acquaint themselves with their countries and ministries of destination. We aim to equip, stimulate and resource CMS missionaries for life-long professional and missiological development.
Areas of learning
- In-culture: a course in practical anthropology, cultural understanding, cross-cultural communication and transition.
- In-mission: an integrated course covering missiology, world faiths, spiritual worldviews and contextualisation.
- Practical issues of working and living in another culture—relationships, schooling, health, security, etc.
- CMS: the history and philosophy of CMS, its policies and guidelines, communication and deputation.
- Maximum Impact Language Learning
- Spiritual, personal and relational development
The time at SAH is about the spiritual, practical, personal and academic formation of the participants—equipping heads, hands and hearts. It is not so much about what you know, but about what you become under God.
Contact
190 The Avenue
Parkville VICTORIA 3052
Phone: 03 9388 1663
Email: sah@cms.org.au
MENTAC cross-cultural apprenticeships
CMS has developed an apprenticeship program called Mentac (Mentoring Across Cultures) which aims to help people explore whether long-term cross-cultural ministry is right for them. Mentac uses one-to-one mentoring and weekly group meetings to share, pray and learn about cross-cultural ministry together. Trainees learn through doing, reaching out to neighbours of other faith backgrounds, students on campus, and migrant and refugee populations through local churches.
The program currently runs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane through CMS state branches. CMS is seeking to work with churches to see this ministry continue to grow. We are currently working on offering training and mentoring for those interested in ministry to Buddhist, as well as Muslim, people. We are also developing plans to offer Mentac apprenticeships overseas, such as in Indonesia, where we are hoping to start a program that combines language and culture learning with existing Muslim outreach ministries.
For more information, contact your state branch.
Training for short-term mission
Missions Interlink Short-term Training (MIST) is a national training program for people in short-term mission. CMS has played a leading role in developing MIST and helping to run courses around Australia. MIST courses are run regularly in each state around Australia.
Mission training for local churches
CMS has partnered with Ridley College in Melbourne to promote a video-based training course in cross-cultural mission. The course is aimed at Christians in local churches who would like to know more about mission and be better equipped to share the gospel with their neighbours. It is accessible online and can be completed by itself or as part of the broader Ridley Certificate.