Over the last six years, a training ministry initially developed for a local church in the north of England now has a truly global impact.
The Porterbrook Network started in 2007 when church planters Steve Timmis and Tim Chester started work on a course that would equip Christians for mission and ministry in everyday life. It needed to appeal to busy Christians who couldn’t take a day a week for training. They wanted something that connected biblical theology to both heart change and mission. A key aim was to help men and women see mission as something to which they could contribute.
The result was Porterbrook Learning. It centred on biblical theology, character development and sound doctrine, as well as equipping people to speak the gospel into everyday life. It gave Christians a renewed vision for the centrality of the local church in mission, and trained people for evangelism and cultural engagement.
Going viral
Over the last two or three years the curriculum has gone ‘viral’. Initially it was designed to serve members of The Crowded House churches and others in the north of England. But Porterbrook now has a network of over 45 learning sites in local churches around the world with over 1,000 students. The course is also available to individual users and, in 2012, 4,000 users took the modules on their own or as part of small groups.