Register your interest in the MTA, beginning Sept 2023
For more information and to be notified when applications open in January 2023, fill out your details below.
We value your privacy, a member of the MTA will be in touch with further detail and by supplying your email you agree to be contacted about the MTA now and in the future.
About the MTA
We are convinced that the preaching and teaching of the Bible which nurtures love for the Lord Jesus, his people, and his world, is the lifeblood of the Christian church.
There is a vital need for men and women to understand ‘the whole counsel of God’ (Acts 20:27) and to then be able to ‘rightly handle the word of truth’ (2 Timothy 2:15).
Taught by men who are each pastors of local churches, the Ministry Training Academy provides a context for rigorous in-person classroom learning, for friendships which will nourish a lifetime of ministry, and for meaningful partnership among churches and across denominations here in the city and shire.
The MTA offers a two year course which covers:
- Principles of exposition;
- Understanding gospel ministry;
- In-depth study of individual Bible books (both in class and in our ‘Book in a Day’ open lectures);
- Bible overview;
- Christian doctrine (both in class and in our ‘Doctrine in a Day’ open lectures).
Students will meet in person for one full day’s study a week (Tuesdays). This day will comprise a morning session of lectures, with the afternoon being given over to a ‘preaching lab’, where students will be helped to develop their preaching/teaching skills with a termly focus on a specific genre within the Bible.
Over the two years students will undertake four main modules. In order to allow a fresh intake of students each year, the course will offer two modules in Year A and two in Year B, with the order in which Years A and B are taken being interchangeable.
The two modules each year will each run for 16 weeks, creating a 32-week student year spread over a September-June period.
The course is open to both men and women.
What we believe
The existence of one, eternal, immutable God, Sovereign, Creator and Lord of the universe, who in the unity of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, both governs all things according to his will and is accomplishing his purposes in the world and in the Church.
The Bible as originally given, as the inspired, inerrant and infallible word of God. Christians must therefore submit to its supreme authority and sufficiency, both individually and corporately, in every matter of belief and conduct.
The inherent value of all human beings, made by God in his own likeness, and their sinfulness and guilt since the Fall. This has rendered them subject to God’s wrath and condemnation, and has resulted in their alienation from his life, suppression of the truth, and hostility to his law.
The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, who is fully God. He was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
Salvation from the guilt, penalty and all consequences of sin solely through the work of Jesus Christ – his perfect obedience, penal substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and exaltation as Lord. He alone is truly God and truly man, the only mediator between God and man. There is salvation through no other person, creed, process or power. The entirety of a sinner’s justification, from beginning to end, is only by his grace alone appropriated through faith alone.
The necessity and sufficiency of the work of the Holy Spirit for the individual’s new birth and growth to maturity, and for the Church’s constant renewal in truth, wisdom, faith, holiness, love, power and mission
The universal church as the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong. Its existence reveals God’s ultimate purpose to bring everything together under Christ. It is made visible in local congregations of believers, who are a holy people called to declare the praise of him who saved them, and to proclaim his gracious offer of salvation to those who are lost. The unity of the body of Christ is expressed within and between local churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between churches exists only where they are faithful to the apostolic gospel.
The personal and visible return in glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to raise the dead and bring salvation and judgment to final completion. He will grant eternal life to those who have believed the gospel, and consign those who have not to everlasting punishment in hell. God will fully establish his kingdom when he creates a new heaven and new earth from which evil and evildoers, suffering and death will be excluded, and in which he will be glorified forever.
True Gospel ministry as the proclamation of the Gospel through faithfully teaching the Bible. This ministry has been entrusted by Christ to the local church. While both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to grow to their full potential in the varied ministries of the people of God, a distinctive leadership role within the church is given to qualified men – a pattern of ministry which is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption.
Apply for the MTA
Applications are now open. Applications for September 2024 should be submitted by 29th March 2024.