Monday, September 25, 2006

Elliot Greene and Tyrannus Hall

Rev. Elliot Greene--Assistant Professor of Biblical Languages at Westminster Theological Seminary (Texas Campus) and Assistant Pastor/Missionary at New St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church--is now principal for a new organization, the Tyrannus Hall Foundation for Pastoral Development. The goal of Tyrannus Hall is to train pastors to shepherd the body of Christ.

Here are some quotes from the website, setting forth the vision and the curriculum:

"America is still a ripe mission field, especially in African American and Hispanic communities. As these communities continue to grow, they will be mission fields that will need well-trained, skilled tillers and harvesters."

"Many minority pastors who are laboring in the fields of their communities are unable to attend seminary, away from their families, congregations and, for some, their jobs. Yet they desire growth in their calling and skills. For them, the traditional model of seminary training will not accommodate their life situation.

Their training should be personal and flexible. Instead of requiring them to travel to be trained, the training must travel to them. There are three advantages to this.

(1) The costs involved with seminary training are beyond what many pastors can afford. If the a church has multiple pastors who desire training, the costs escalate even more.
(2) Acculturalization--many minorities (and for that matter foreign Christian ministerial candidates) have had difficulty adjusting to the different culture [of seminary] rather than operating within familiar surroundings.
(3) The rote learning model of traditional education is not conducive to a fruitful learning environment for many minority pastors and church leaders.

TYRANNUS HALL
seeks to bring near to these men excellent and scholarly theological training in a pastoral/discipleship-oriented way. Although the primary venue for Tyrannus Hall’s ministry will be in America, as the Lord permits, the ministry will embrace opportunities overseas (such as but not limited to Japan, the Philippines and Mexico).

TYRANNUS HALL Foundation for Pastoral Development is committed to:

* To disciple and train ministers who serve in the Spirit of God and who are scripturally learned, doctrinally sound (Reformed), and who are of a relational/disciple-making mindset.
* To provide the training in the context of the pastors’ own ministries in familiar surroundings where overhead costs for teaching facilities are reduced tremendously.
* To produce and supply the ministers with the necessary library resources both for their own learning and for teaching their congregations.
* To provide a forum for follow-up that the ministers could access for encouragement, advice and prayer.
* To instill a vision of expanding the kingdom through planting churches, more specifically and precisely planting other pastors. Some of these pastors can be supported and sponsored by Reformed denominations, such as the PCA.
* To unite pastors in covenant groups to support each other with brotherly love, to pray for each other and to shepherd younger ministers in the same manner and theological vein as they were taught through TYRANNUS HALL.

Four cities have been selected as ministry venues for TYRANNUS HALL. The plan would entail visiting each ministry venue once per quarter doing intensive seminars. Each quarterly visit will involve 18–20 hours of instruction over the course of four days. The quarterly visits will last three years, providing a total of 216 hours of personal instruction.

* Dallas, Texas - Mercy Street Ministries

* Clarksville, Tenn. - First Missionary Baptist Church

* Jackson, Miss. - Redeemer Presbyterian Church

* Sacramento, Calif. - Jubilare Evangelistic Ministries

This seems like a ministry worth supporting and encouraging. (To support them, click here.)
(HT: Reformed Blacks of America)