PLANNING FOR GROWTH

by Mark Detzler

God has blessed the Italian church: over the last fifty years membership has grown from a few thousand to a quarter of a million today. But as the evangelical church moves into the next century it faces enormous challenges.

According to 'Operation World', the protestant church is growing at about 2% per annum. The figure for evangelical churches is about 4%, and is nearer 10% for the fastest-growing denominations. This means that in the next twenty years thousands of new congregations will need suitably equipped leaders.

A second challenge is the influx of new teachings. Italian Christians are bombarded by a steady stream of influences. The Catholic church estimates that 35,000 residents of the province of Florence have become Buddhists, and even many 'evangelical' churches have adopted unorthodox positions on basic doctrines.

Third, there is an urgent need for spiritual maturity. As churches move out of the garages and shop fronts which have served until now as places of worship to embark on building projects, and as the state offers tax breaks to those giving to certain evangelical groups, leaders will need much wisdom. Italian Christians are often gifted evangelists, but the immaturity of church leaders can mean that the church becomes a revolving door, or that converts never grow beyond spiritual infancy.

Who will lead the Body of Christ into the next millenium? Patrick Johnstone states that "...the dearth of mature Christian leaders in Protestant Churches at both the national and the pastoral level is crippling the advance of the Gospel." In a similar vein, Daniel Ricket, an expert in leadership development, writes that "...existing educational programs are so few and so fragile as to render them nonexistent for most Christians."

At a time when new congregations are being founded daily and men come into leadership with absolutely no formal training whatsoever, Italy needs an affordable, accessible, truly interdenominational, practical School of Ministry. In October '94, Italy For Christ brought together acadamics and pastors to establish a basis for such a school.

The challenge is huge: before training the students it is necessary to train the teachers who often have no formal preparation themselves. Please pray for Cathy and I as we tackle this important task.

Mark and Cathy Detzler have been members of OAC for six years. They have three children, Matthew, Samuel and Sara. They currently live in Rome.

Mark has been seconded to Italy for Christ. He has been named National Director of the School of Ministry project and plans to establish a pilot scheme by October '95.