The Christian landscape has undergone major changes, with the center of gravity being transformed crucially in the global South, particularly Africa. This unprecedented growth of the church presents both immeasurable opportunities and substantial challenges, especially for theological education.
In an interview with Christian Daily International, Dr. David Tulls, executive director of the Christian Theological Education Association in Africa (ACTEA), highlighted a major discrepancy between the rapid growth of African churches and, in fact, the global South, compared to the slow expansion of theological education.
Tars said theological training institutions stated, “We have a lot of people who come to Christ. I think thousands of people come to Christ in Africa every day,” Tars said, a side job at the Council of Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE) conference in Tirana, Albania.
In contrast, the majority of theological training institutions recognize fewer than 200 students each year. There are a few exceptions, Tarus said. Nigeria’s Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the oldest theological training institutions on the continent, has over 2,000 theological students, but “the majority (of the Bible Schools) have between 130 and 150 students.”
This constraint has required the rise of alternative models of theological education. Conversations about formal and informal education are centralized with informal approaches, such as church-based Bible programs and short theological courses that emerge as important routes to equipping leaders.
“A very good example is my father. He is a leader. He cares two churches in my village. His best education is in the seventh grade, but he was able to obtain theological education through informal means programs, short-based programs and modular programs,” Tarus said.
The effectiveness of such models includes the installation and equipping church leaders that do not have the resources or qualifications recognized in seminary, highlighting the importance of accessibility and providing theological education in technical terms to reach a wider range of potential leaders.
There is a high degree of gratitude for theological education within African churches. However, Tarus said that financial support for these institutions and programs “is not always a priority and sometimes the church focuses on infrastructure and other areas.”
Efforts to formalize theological training have often been made in Logger Heads in several sections of the Pentecostal and charismatic churches who argued that biblical and spiritual leadership could not be taught in formal structures. “But this has changed, and more churches are now setting up their own Bible schools,” Tars said.
Government regulations also helped to quickly track pastoral training, although mixed results, as in Rwanda, which passed the law in 2017, which required church leaders to acquire formal theological training. In 2024, after a five-year bounty period provided by law, the Rwandan Governance Committee closed 5,600 churches for non-compliance.
“The Rwandan situation provides a unique case study on the relationship between states and theological education. This mission forced them to seek training both within Rwanda and in neighbouring countries like Kenya and Uganda. This situation initially prompted the recognition of theological institutions within Rwanda,” Tars said.
In Kenya, the Presidential Task Force recommended a hybrid regulatory framework with a multi-sector religious committee tasked with strengthening self-regulation through the Church Association and setting and enforcing minimum standards for theological education. “But Kenya is another story. There was a lot of opposition. The church spoke, and in the end the government decided not to pursue that route,” Tars said.
Tarus also repeated the sentiment from some speakers at the Icete Conference, calling for the amplification of the global South’s voice and perspective on the international platform. He cited Kenyan scholar John Beatty. He argued that theologians in the majority world are deeply familiar with Western theological traditions, but the opposite is not true.
“The question (Beatty) asked: “Have you read us? Have you read most of the world theology?” I think the sad thing is that there is always an assumption that in most cases, Western theology, Western theology is theology and the other is contextual theology.
Aiming for what he imagines as an ideal future, Tars imagined theological education outlook in Africa where the institutions fulfill their mission by accompanying, strengthening and serving the church. This ideal includes a critical assessment of curriculum relevance, accessibility, and quality assurance mechanisms and partnership adoption.
He emphasized the importance of theological institutions that work closely with local churches, moving away from isolation. The goal is to nurture theological education “living with the needs of local churches” and to promote transformational learning, rather than mere theoretical learning.
“I had a four-year bachelor’s degree, a bachelor’s program in theology focused on pastoral studies… but I think it was insufficient in terms of practical theology, how to make a submission in a local context.”
The reality of the diversity and depth of idyllic work, including one of the first missions of sermons and counseling to hold a child’s funeral, was in stark contrast to the limited practical training he received. He said that in African contexts, pastors often play a broader role and require training in areas such as entrepreneurship, community change.
For organizations and ministries seeking to invest in African theological education, Tarus said it needs to equip theological libraries and invest in supporting long-term sustainability by investing in institutions with robust business plans through initiatives that potentially generate funding and revenue.
“I think (and importantly) investing in leadership development. One of the weakest connections in theological education is that executive leaders are not trained for their current job,” Tarus said.
