In this introduction to the idea of education to transform vocations, Mark Greene, Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, introduces some of the big ideas on why people are not being equipped for their ordinary work within churches.

He starts by asking the linked questions:

• What kind of disciples does Jesus want to send out into the world?
• What kind of churches will make those disciples?
• What kind of theological colleges will make those church leaders?

He explains that churches are not briefing, training, resourcing, commissioning or supporting Christians for their ordinary work.

In return, Christians do not think God is interested in their work, and are missing out on the opportunity of seeking God’s purpose, favour, wisdom, communication or strength for their daily working.

This separation of work and faith is often called the sacred–secular divide (SSD).

He also reports back on a study of theological colleges around the world where it was shown that colleges admitted that SSD is a problem in the church, and initially thought it did not affect them, and eventually realised that their college had SSD issues in institutional culture, curriculum, assessment and lecture content.

The opposite of SSD is Whole-Life Discipleship (WLD).

Mark begins an exploration of what WLD looks like in a church and theological college context.

To see the presentation slides, click below.

This video was the opening address at the inaugural Transforming Vocation Conference, held in Sydney Australia in July 2019.