Jesus said to his disciples:

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38

In New Zealand there is great need for workers for the harvest, as we seek to see existing churches grow and new churches planted. From the work Multiply has done so far across the country, we have sensed a desire to plant but a shortage of trained workers.

This initiative arose from reflection on that situation – it proposes a partnership between churches that under God might see a substantial growth in the number of churches offering ministry training apprenticeships within New Zealand. We propose growing a fellowship of trainers who commit to coming with their trainees several times a year for combined input. At these gatherings they meet with
others who share this vision – with the purpose of encouragement and biblical formation.

Our vision is for church based ministry training to flourish, supported by national gatherings – intensive training days for trainees and their trainers – sharpening one another. Ultimately, our prayer is that God would use this initiative to see more people, doing more ministry, in more places, to grow His kingdom throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The Shape of the Apprenticeship

Ministry apprentices will generally serve in a full-time role for two-three years in a local church. The key feature is an ongoing relationship with a trainer, working alongside them, learning the basics of reformed evangelical ministry.

The trainer – trainee relationship can never be replaced with a classroom environment. Over the term of the apprenticeship, each apprentice will be mentored through a broad range of ministry contexts and exposed to the highs and lows of ministry life as they walk alongside their trainer.

Each church will structure their apprenticeship to match their capacity and opportunities, but there are basic elements that would be consistent across the fellowship – developing every apprentice in their convictions, character and ministry competencies.

Outside local training, the trainer would commit to bringing their trainees to intensives that gather apprentices and their trainers for input, specifically:

• Quarterly day-long intensives for apprentices and their trainers in different cities around New Zealand
• and re-commencing in 2025, a one day long challenge day/intensive prior to attending the Multiply Conference together for current apprentices and potential future apprentices (with input from the keynote speaker from that year’s conference).

A Fellowship of Trainers

The driving force for this initiative is the partnership between trainers. They are people who are committed to partnering together to grow the quality and number of training churches and from that fellowship an increasing flow of well-trained gospel leaders.

We are looking to gather existing and potential trainers who are:

• Like-minded – aligned around theology and ministry philosophy
• Humble – willing to learn from each other
• Generous – willing to sacrifice time to come with their trainees and input into the next generation of trainers
• Prayerful – urgently asking God to raise up the next generation of gospel leaders.

Trainers contribute to the fellowship through:

• Bringing their trainees to the intensives – setting a model of partnership.
• Coaching new trainers who seek to start new training centres.
• Praying for and encouraging other trainers in the fellowship.
• Sharing training resources – providing a starting point for other churches.
• Sharing in teaching at intensives.