Establishing Schools

Over the next few decades, there will be significant shifts in where Christians live and where Christianity is growing. For example, by 2050, Africa’s population will double to over 3 billion people, and when combined with estimated adult conversion rates, this will lead to 4 out of 10 Christians living there. At the same time, the percentage of Christians living in North America and Europe will decrease. The explosion of the overall population and Christianity exacerbates an already existing issue. There are simply not enough trained ministry workers to care for the growing Christian population in these areas.

According to the center for the study of global Christianity, as many as 85% of ministry workers in these areas have no formal theology training or training in identifying, equipping and recruiting new pastors. While there are just under 300 protestant seminaries in North America, serving half a billion people, there are around 40 in Africa for three times as many people. When looking ahead to the population shifts that will take place over the next 30 years, we can see that this disparity in available Christian education will only get worse.