One of the key – but often unseen – ministries of BIC U.S. World Missions is training international church leaders through scholarships, the Directed Study Program, and most recently international Core Course gatherings.
BIC Core Courses lay a ministry foundation by exploring history, theology, and leadership. The global BIC community expressed a growing appetite to receive this training for themselves, and in March, pastors from Colombia, Panama, the U.S., and Spain gathered in Bogotá to complete the BIC History and Values Core Course.
Antonio Gonzalez, bishop of BIC Spain, was one of the participants. Here he shares how the gathering went beyond learning church history to instilling a deep familial bond among the participants.
For most of BIC Spain’s pastors, this was the first opportunity to participate in an international training course. Many of the pastors from Spain were not yet familiar with the BIC Church in other parts of the world, and the meeting was a wonderful opportunity to expand their knowledge.
Meetings of this kind help foster awareness that we belong to a larger body, not only in today’s world but also throughout history.Three of the four Spanish pastors in attendance are of Latin American origin, as is a large part of our Spanish church membership. That cultural connection, despite the differences between our backgrounds, favored communication and mutual integration during our time in Colombia. We greatly appreciated the welcome we received from the BIC Church in Bogotá, enjoying Colombian coffee and food in fellowship with our brothers and sisters from various parts of the world. Despite how tired we were from the time change, the local church was attentive to us, facilitating our class participation.
This course was particularly important for us as some of the pastors in Spain are just beginning in the ministry. The mere fact of getting to know other pastors and sharing their problems and struggles with them was very relevant. The learning community was also a community of life through which we could share and reflect on the challenges of pastoral life.
Learning the rich history and origins of the Brethren in Christ, from its origins among European Anabaptists to the formation of the Brethren in Christ Church in Pennsylvania, was very important to all of us. Especially stimulating were sessions about Pietism among the Brethren in Christ and the theological streams that contribute to the special profile in our history. The fraternity between current BIC leaders was joined by the simultaneous awareness of a unified history, rich with testimonies of following Jesus.
Our local church struggles were framed in a much broader perspective.From my point of view, this is the most important thing about meetings of this kind. They help to foster the awareness that we belong to a larger body, not only in today’s world but also throughout history. In this way, our small struggles in local churches are framed in a much broader perspective. By meeting with other brothers and sisters, we can realize that we are not alone in our difficulties, just as we are not alone in our consolations (2 Cor 1:7).
In this sense, I believe that all the participants who came from Spain were struck by the experience of being part of a body and of belonging to a great history of following Jesus. This has made us very aware of the importance of working for the unity among churches and for maintaining a faithful witness.
This article was originally published in our 2024 Annual Report.