"Beautiful and balanced" is how Nigerian Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon sees a Moore College course that will equip untrained church planters to spread the gospel in Africa's Muslim heartland.
A new agreement to fund the training of evangelists " lay church planters " in Kaduna Diocese in northern Nigeria is part of Sydney Diocese's mission to train thousands of ministry workers to serve in Australia and overseas.
Kaduna has entered into the agreement with Moore Theological College and Sydney Diocese to train evangelists in Moore College's Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC).
Archbishop Idowu-Fearon (pictured on right) says the course is "heaven-sent'.
"I had been struggling to write a syllabus for lay education in Kaduna diocese and I said gosh, this is heaven-sent! So I fell for it immediately," he says.
"I haven't seen anything similar to [the PTC] in my context so Moore College fits in because the material is grounded in the scriptures.
The Archbishop was in Sydney last week where he met with diocesan leaders and students and faculty at Moore College.
"The problem with Christianity in Africa is that there is no serious biblical content" the course will give them a good foundation for theological training in our seminary," he says.
For the next two years, Sydney Diocese will pay fares, enrolment and catering fees for every student to come from their villages to Kaduna to complete units in the relevant correspondence course unit.
Discussions are advanced between the three parties for the whole PTC course to be translated into the Housa language, which is spoken by many in Nigeria and across much of West Africa.
"It's an opportunity to help a diocese in the heart of an Islamic environment," says the Moore College Registrar, Alan Hohne.
"There's exciting church planting going on and there are large numbers of people responding to the gospel " but they desperately need teaching."
The arrangement builds on existing links between the two dioceses. Since 2000 many in Kaduna, mainly evangelists, have been using the PTC correspondence course to prepare for church planting work among people in rural areas.
Biblical training will defend Christianity against Islam
Archbishop Idowu-Fearon says the PTC course will help lay ministry workers with little or no theological training defend Christianity against the growing problem of Islam in Kaduna, which remains a hotspot for interfaith tensions.
"For you to be able to hold a meaningful dialogue with a Muslim you must know your own religion," he says.
"The Muslim respects the Christian who knows the Bible and is able to not argue but present his position" The course will give them a good foundation for theological training."
The Archbishop plans to teach an Islamic component to the PTC students in his centre for Christian-Muslim relations in Kaduna.
Widespread illiteracy in rural areas is not seen as a barrier to biblical teaching of laity in Nigeria.
Well-equipped evangelists who have a good understanding of the Bible and Christian doctrine will be able to teach people in their own language " making the PTC course an important part of discipling new converts.
"This is solid Bible teaching for grassroots believers in a place where large numbers are responding to the gospel," Alan Hohne says.
"Evangelists are seriously engaging in spreading the gospel in a Muslim context."
Bishop of Georges River Peter Tasker, chairman of the Archbishop of Sydney's Overseas Ministry Fund, will provide more information about the plan in Mission Hour at Sydney Synod, Wesley Centre, Pitt Street on Monday October 23.
Read a full transcript of the interview with Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon on the Classical Anglican web site, courtesy of David Ould.
