Research on training culture in local church

Research on training culture in local churches

Since the start of 2025, a major research project has looked at a number of churches in the UK to better understand what is a healthy training culture in a local church.   The core convictions underlying the research:

• Multiplying gospel workers is a key and urgent priority in God’s plan to reach the lost

• The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, and so we must pray to the Lord to send out workers 

• At the heart of gospel work is the faithful ministry of the word

• Gospel workers are people set-apart to serve in local churches exercising a significant word ministry

• Training and sending out gospel workers is an essential and normal part of the missional strategy of every local church, in partnership with external training providers

• If we are to reach the whole nation for Jesus, the training of gospel workers will look different, depending on the context

More than 60 UK churches were included in the research, 15 of which are being profiled to illustrate what healthy training culture looks like in different settings:
Churches in tough places

• Small churches      

• Medium-sized churches 

• Large churches

• City churches

• Suburban churches 

• Rural churches

• Churches with significant numbers of students and / or
  young adults

And at different stages of development:

• Churches starting training

• Churches establishing a healthy training culture

• Churches developing a healthy training culture

• Churches multiplying a healthy training culture

 As well as profiling individual churches a range of area-focused movements are profiled. 

Training culture in local churches (to follow)