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 opportunities 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 our current trainee, Joel Phillips
“Coming out of university, I knew that I wanted to take a year out to work for a church to paint a clearer picture of what life in church ministry would be like, and to develop my skills, particularly in preaching. I was drawn to the ministry training scheme at UBC because it was personal and tailored to me, and the balance between training, doing, and mentoring has been great. I remember feeling extremely welcomed by the church when I joined, and that sense of a strong, loving community has continued throughout my time here. The welcome and sense of love from the church family has been increased by having one of the church families open their home for me to live with them for the year. MTC at St. Ebbes has been great for biblically based, engaging teaching, training, and feedback. It has also been a good place to get to know other people in similar positions at like-minded churches."
Practical details
Being a ministry trainee with us is a full-time role. The MTY would run for 11 months from September 2022 until July 2023, 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 Malcolm Hazell, Senior Pastor, at pastormalcolm@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.