Bible teaching ministries

One of the major problems for the churches during the Franco era (until 1975) was the impossibility to establish Bible Schools. Most pastors had to either go abroad, which in those days usually meant learning another language, or go through some kind of self-study programme. As the regime eased, correspondance and evening courses were established by the different denominations and finally Bible Schools and seminaries. The more traditional churches managed to keep one or other form of training alive, but things were difficult.

Currently, however, the situation is very different. There are a number of established Bible schools, such as the GEM school IBSTE, in Barcelona and the Baptist college, United Seminary of the traditional Anglican and Reformed churches and the independent SEFOVAN in Madrid as well as evening schools in both of these cities. There are also more residential, part-time and correspondance-based Bible schools spread around the country serving all the various theological tendencies (AoG have two, of which one in the Canaries).

The current need is not so much for the availability of teaching as for demand for it! Pray that young people will become more interested in life-time commitment to the Lord's service and less short-term project orientated... and that they will in consequence become more interested in training. Pray, conversely, that Bible training may, at least in part, become more adapted to attracting those who might be interested in courses on a 'project' level.