Ministry Training Scheme
Our church
Union Baptist is a medium-sized, town centre, evangelical Baptist church.
Our vision is to see our town of High Wycombe transformed by God through His loving, serving and worshipping church.
As a church, we offer a ministry training year because we feel called by God to train up future pastors who will be equipped to discern and follow God’s call on their life.
The trainee position
Through our ministry training year, we hope and pray that our ministry trainee will grow in faith, love, knowledge, wisdom, and gifting. To help achieve this, there are several core elements to the year:
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Theological training
We send our trainees to the South-Central Gospel Partnership Ministry Training Course (MTC) run at St. Ebbes church in Oxford. At MTC, you will receive training on how to give Bible-based talks and opportunities to use and develop this skill. You will also receive a mix of expositional and topical teaching from a variety of practising ministers and leaders from Christian organisations. Many from our church have found attending this course immensely beneficial for their faith and ministry.
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Ministry experience and practical training
You will be involved in many areas of our church’s life and ministry. The balance and areas of focus will be tailored to you, but will involve serving within our children’s, youth, admin and teaching ministries as a core. You will meet regularly with our senior pastor and other ministry team members to discuss and reflect on future/upcoming ministry at the church and gain an insight into what full- time church ministry is like.
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Personal development
Throughout the year, you will be given various books to read and digest to aid in your training. The books will be tailored to your primary ministry areas. You will also have opportunities to attend various other training events throughout the year, such as prayer ministry, discipleship, or worship training events.
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We would want your time with us as a church to be tailored to you, to develop your giftings, grow in areas of weakness and equip you to serve in ministries you are passionate about. Because of this, the areas of ministry you would focus on will be shaped based upon discussion with our senior pastor.
Hear from a previous trainee, Chris Manktelow
After leaving academia, I decided to spend a year volunteering at a church to experience church life and to help me grow in faith and self-confidence. I also wanted to spend some time serving in a cross-cultural context to help me know if I would enjoy working abroad with a Christian charity. Union Baptist Church is such a loving community and they have supported me throughout my ministry trainee year. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed helping with the children and young people’s ministry and it was amazing to see people hear the gospel and find employment through the Christians Against Poverty job club. The ministry training course at St Ebbe’s has also given me a new love for God’s word and opportunities to practice preaching.
During the summer I completed a 6-week trip to Tanzania with Emmanuel International, which is one of the mission organisations that Union Baptist Church supports. I wrote reports for donors and visited Imarika projects. These projects aim to strengthen the environment, livelihoods, and churches through community banking, conservation agriculture and teaching farmers entrepreneurship skills. I also stayed with Tanzanian families and worshipped in local churches. I was encouraged to see all that God is doing through the Tanzanian church and was inspired by meeting Christians who love Jesus and put their faith into action.
I am about to start a new job at BMS World Mission, where I will be helping to edit and write their monthly magazine, Engage. Spending a year as a ministry trainee at Union Baptist Church has given me the confidence and skills to serve well in Christian ministry. But far more importantly I have come away from this year enjoying God more and knowing that only Jesus can offer life in all its fullness.
Practical details
Being a ministry trainee with us is a full-time role and usually runs for 11 months from September until July, although we would be happy to explore extending the role into a second year and can be flexible on dates if needed. You would report to one of our pastors, and work alongside our staff team in the church office. The church will cover costs for MTC, travel and other ministry related expenses. We will provide support for accommodation, either with a contribution towards rent or by placing you with a family from the church. You would receive a small amount per month to cover other living expenses.
How to apply
To explore becoming our ministry trainee at Union Baptist Church, please email Andrew Wingfield, Lead Pastor, at andrew@unionbaptist.org. Please attach a CV, and include in your email your spiritual story, including how you became a Christian, how you came to be exploring church ministry, and why you have applied for this role with us.