Challies Dot Com: Training For The Ministry

Tim Challies writes on training for ministry.  I agree with his assessment for the need for formal ministry training.  He notes that we live in a day that tends to eschew formal theological training.  I would say that we have lived in such a day for many moons in this country.  Among Baptists of most flavors, formal training, from my own experience, has been strongly recommended, but certainly not required.  The early ministry of Baptists in pioneer areas in the western U.S. did not necessarily require theological degrees of its preachers. It did require being sent by a local church who recognized the man’s call and giftedness, but not necessarily a degree.  I would assume this was true of some other evangelical groups that were evangelizing the unconqurered west.