Accreditation

Exploring the call of pastoral leadership with Baptist Churches SA & NT.

We are eager to identify and encourage women and men who are being called to be pastoral leaders in the life, ministry, and mission of our church communities.

If you’re exploring such a calling, the following information will provide some guidelines for discerning a path forward to enter into that calling. While every person who engages with us is evaluated on an individual basis, there is a ‘base-line’ pathway that forms the framework for our discernment.

Three Phases of learning and development

01. Start with a degree

Completion of a Bachelor of Ministry, Master of Divinity, or equivalent is the usual, necessary foundation for ministry leadership in a Baptist church.

Within this, the following units of study are recommended:

Biblical studies

Including Old Testament and New Testament overviews, hermeneutics, and two exegesis subjects.

Theology

Including an introductory subject, church history, and two further subjects.

Ministry

Including preaching, leadership, a cultural awareness subject, a local mission subject, two pastoral care subjects and at least two semesters of Supervised Field Education.

In South Australia, many of our candidates complete their degrees at either Tabor or Bible College SA.

We encourage those who are considering future accreditation with BCSANT to connect with our Ministry Accreditation Facilitator or Leadership Development Facilitator while they are studying.

02. Progress through our Accredited Ministry Formation process

Accredited Ministry Formation

This process gives attention to:

Head: A body of knowledge

Learning via formal courses (four post-graduate intensives taken for credit or audit), peer group, coaching, and ministry experience.

Hands: Competencies

Ministry skills are developed, working with an experienced AMF Coach, with attention paid to 4 particular areas:

Pastoral care
Leadership
Communication/Self-leadership
Mission

Heart: Character and Spiritual Formation

Attention is given to the whole person in ministry: who you are, and who you are becoming. This is about intentional formation via a range of means, including Spiritual Direction, attention to spiritual disciplines, prayer retreats, theological reflection, exploration of character growth and emotional intelligence.

Normally a candidate takes a minimum of 2-3 years to engage all the elements of this process in a satisfactory manner.

The Application process for Accredited Ministry Formation involves:

Ministry Context in a local BCSANT church
Written responses from the applicant
References from key leaders
Interview with BCSANT’s Accreditation and Ordination Committee
Psychological Assessment

Contact our Ministry Accreditation Facilitator to find out more or request an application pack.

03. Accreditation Currency

Accreditation Currency is about ongoing formation and transformation for our pastors and the communities they serve. The purpose of whatever is done under the banner of Accreditation Currency is that it would have the effect of deepening:

Character: growing maturity in character and spiritual formation
Knowledge: increasing abilities to think biblically, clearly, creatively, and compassionately
Competence: developing best practice ministry skills

Leadership: growing capacity to lead people, teams, and communities

It is the desire of BCSANT’s Accreditation and Ordination Committee to see:

A level of measurability and accountability in the interest of Pastoral health, and a duty of care for our church communities
Greater clarity in terms of a generalised standard concerning Professional Development requirements
An embodiment of the desire for holistic development according to vocation (as opposed to a box-ticking exercise)

With this in mind, we have moved away from our previous three-yearly accreditation renewal process to ongoing Accreditation Currency. 

Every 12 months the following are required: