ICETE 2025: Ortiz Calls For Theological Training Reform
The 19th global consultation of ICETE (International Council for Evangelical Theological Education) began yesterday (March 3) in Tirana, Albania, with Dr Michael Ortiz emphasising the significance of theological education in global missions.
“The most vital global missiological endeavour of our time is theological education,” Ortiz stated as he addressed the gathering, which included over 600 participants from nearly 100 countries. With representation from the Global South, 30% women, and 10% younger leaders, this event marks the most diverse in ICETE’s 45-year history.
Ortiz urged attendees to reconsider current theological training approaches, stating, “We must rethink, reimagine, and recalibrate the whole of theological education for the sake of all of God’s people in every land and for every aspect of the church.” He highlighted the rapid spread of evangelism, church planting, and Bible translation but stressed the need for well-equipped leaders to sustain these efforts. “Without the work that we do in equipping future leaders, they can only get so far.”
He underscored the importance of all forms of theological education—formal, non-formal, and informal—arguing that institutions must adapt to changing societal realities. “We must help each other to know how to stay tuned to what’s happening. What are the current realities of the church, the people of God, that they’re facing?” he asked. “We must help the Church be anticipatory and understand what’s working and what’s coming down the road because theological education traditionally has been far too reactive.”
Having travelled extensively across Africa, Asia, and other regions, Ortiz observed that theological institutions globally face similar challenges, reinforcing the need for a collaborative approach. He pointed to the overwhelming number of Christian leaders requiring training, stating, “The rate of growth of the Church is so monumental that there is no single course, no single curriculum, no single teacher or professor, no single programme, no single sector of training that will be able to meet the needs of the Church around the world today.”
While scaling up theological education is necessary, Ortiz cautioned against merely expanding programmes without ensuring real-life impact. “We do not need more training programmes. We need transformed lives through transformed training programmes,” he said. He urged educators to work together, emphasizing that significant portions of the consultation are dedicated to collaboration in issue-focused groups.
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“How do we get past these challenges? How do we become innovative? How do we think about new ways of handling these challenges? For each of these challenges, we have Impact Teams,” Ortiz explained.
Ahead of the event, Ortiz described ICETE’s strategic shift toward Impact Teams—“communities of practice that facilitate global relationship building, research, publication, advocacy, cross-pollination of ideas, and innovative best practices for what’s next in theological education.”
These teams aim to reflect the Church’s diversity in gender, age, and geography while bridging formal and non-formal programmes. Through prayer and discussion, they seek to generate solutions ensuring theological education remains relevant and effective.
“Right now, we have 20 Impact Teams that cover things like creation care, children and youth ministries, polycentric missiology, AI and technology, and next-generation pastor development,” Ortiz noted. “There’s a whole host of topics that we are bringing to the surface through these Impact Teams, and we hope that they will impact the way that we do theological education into the future.”
ICETE currently connects with ministries that reach approximately 300,000 people preparing for ministry. However, Ortiz envisions exponential growth. “I would love to see us be over the next few years to have millions – two, three, four million people that are preparing for ministry around the world,” he said, clarifying that ICETE is not the sole driver but a mechanism to encourage this globally.
As he closed his opening remarks, Ortiz urged participants to be proactive. Reiterating his opening statement, he declared, “God has not brought you here simply to listen and to watch, but he has called you to step up, step in and move forward.”
He concluded with a prayer for the consultation: “Lord, may ICETE C-25, Tirana propel us forward together in our common aim – strengthen the Church for its mission.”
SOURCE: https://www.christiandaily.com/
Content Credit| Agbetan Bisola
Picture Credit | https://uia.org/
