Guidelines For Lecturers
After you have read these guidelines, go to our lecturer application form
Welcome!
GlobalChristians.Org wants to assist the equipping and training
of pastors and Christian leaders in Asia. GlobalChristians.Org is primarily a venue for
seminar-style, in-service training, equipping Christians in particular areas
of ministry.We want to have as many high-quality courses online as possible
with a wide range of lecturers interacting with and developing students.
The
course you take must be both biblical and useful. The course must be offered
free of charge - though of course you may charge for materials and you are free
within reason to recommend your books, seminars, church or training institution
- though blatant salesmanship would be frowned on.
Expectation
-
You must be a born-again, bible-believing, evangelical, charismatic or Pentecostal Christian who has been saved for at least five years.
-
You must be able to demonstrate a good grasp of the Scriptures and be able to subscribe to our aims and beliefs.
-
You must agree to work inter-denominationally and in unity with students from a wide range of Christian beliefs. [For instance if you are a Baptist and one of your students is an evangelical Anglican you will not push believer’s baptism upon them. Or if you are strongly Reformed you may not deny the gifts of the Spirit and the beliefs of your Pentecostal brothers and sisters.]
-
You must be professional in your approach to your subject striving for excellence in content and in teaching methodology.
-
You must have the appropriate qualifications and experience for your subject area.
-
You must be committed to your course and to completing the teaching and marking the assessment.
Wisdom For Living: The sort of training given in the book
of Proverbs, marriage and family material, encouragement to godliness. Specific
help with life problems such as budgeting, finances, work and career, conflict
, friendship, personal boundaries etc. The target audience here includes overseas
foreign workers, and Christian leaders in business, government, academic and
cultural life. Lecturers at this level should be mature Christians preferably
with some professional qualifications (such as psychology) in the area concerned.
No formal assessment of students is expected at this level.
Bible and Theological Training: Similar to conventional bible colleges – OT
and NT overviews, eschatology, theology, apologetics, etc. The target audience
are new pastors, deacons, elders, missionaries and those seeking bible and theological knowledge to equip them in ministry.
Lecturers at this level should have done some formal theological training.
Assessment should consist of exams, assignments, personal journals etc and
be consistent with the length and level of the course. Some audit students
are welcome but the course should be assessable and have a definite lecture
outline. Online multi-choice tests that are marked by computer are acceptable and time-saving methods of assessment
here.
Specific Ministry Skills: Such
as “Children’s Ministry” or “How To Share The Gospel With Buddhists”. Training in a specific area of ministry for
people who are already practitioners or wish to take up that area of ministry.
Should be solidly biblically based while imparting the necessary practical
skills and knowledge. Lecturers at this level should have considerable experience
in the area of ministry they are training others in. Skills-based assessment
based on participation in that ministry area is preferred. For instance a
Children’s Ministry course may be assessed by requiring students to report
on their involvement in ministry to children and asking them to design a program
for their Sunday School or Children’s Ministry.
Ministry Formation: For those who have been in ministry for
a while and who need a forum to reflect on their theology and practice and
to develop a deeper knowledge of God, themselves and their ministry. Lecturers
at this level should possess post-graduate qualifications and have at least
ten to fifteen years experience in ministry and generally be in mid-life or
older. Works of deep reflection such as term papers, a small thesis and participation
in journaling and online discussion forums could be part of the assessment
methods used here.
The Course Content
Within
this you are free to be creative and even provocative (the right kind on non-contentious
provocation that stretches students). Close reference to Asian culture and
world-views is encouraged as are creative approaches to presentation and assessment
bearing in mind that many students will be viewing your materials on slow
connections. Very large graphics and large audio or video files are not encouraged
though some use of these tools can be very helpful.
Generally
speaking the Bible should be the main “textbook” employed. Many students simply cannot afford expensive Western textbooks. Lecturers
are encouraged to give students website URL’s where they can access needed
content for free and you are strongly encouraged to put your lecture notes
in an ebook that students can download. If you do not know how to do this
visit www.keeboo.com or email me. Generally 20 or more lectures can be zipped into an ebook file
and this can downloaded in 3 minutes or so thus saving students a lot of time
and hassle. See our ebooks
section for examples of these. We do not expect lecturers
to be computer experts and when you come on board as a lecturer we will assign
a member of our technical staff to help you with details such as compiling
ebooks and setting up a student database and online assessments. You are strongly
encouraged to recruit lecturers and
tutors to help you with your course.
Copyright
Lecturers
will retain copyright and all intellectual property rights over the course
material that they personally produce. However
they will give GlobalChristians.Org written permission to use it for free during the time
the course is being run through GlobalChristians.Org. They shall allow GlobalChristians.Org to put
the material in ebook format for students to download.
Policy
Guidelines
We appreciate that our
lecturers are Christians of high integrity however in the modern environment
policies are necessary so the following guidelines have been put in place.
Theological
Balance: Lecturers shall abide by the letter and the spirit of the Aims
and Beliefs of GlobalChristians.Org. Extreme views of any kind are unwelcome, these
include non-Trinitarian views, baptism for salvation, speaking in tongues for
salvation, keeping the Sabbath for salvation, extreme prosperity teaching, extreme
legalism such as condemning all make-up, liberal theology, liberation theology,
occult practices and beliefs, hyper-faith, requiring Christians to keep Jewish
laws and festivals, and syncretism with pagan cultures and practices. If you
are in doubt about an aspect of your teaching please check in either Millard
Erickson’s Christian Theology or Wayne Grudem’s Systematic
Theology - these are well known and trusted standard
theologies.
Professionalism: Lecturers will be professional in their course delivery, have a clear lecture and course outline, and supply the necessary materials or links to them. Lecturers shall respond promptly to student queries and return student assessments within 14 days of the completion of the course.
Bribes: Lecturers shall not ask students for money or imply that grades will be given in return for favors of any kind.
Culture: Lecturers should not be so anti-Western (or anti any culture) that it becomes an issue.
Recruiting Students: Lecturers will not promise positions in ministry to students during the time of the course. After the course is over lecturers are free to recruit promising students for their church or mission.
Still interested in being part of GlobalChristians.Org? Then go to our lecturer application form
and we will get talking about putting your course online ASAP!
Blessing,
John Edmiston
GlobalChristians.Org President