Is Competency Based Theological Education an Answer for the Growing Training Needs of the Church?

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion about Competency Based Theological Education (CBTE) as a possible solution for meeting the desperate growing need for theological education. The Changed Evangelical World. The demographic spread of evangelical believers worldwide has changed dramatically in the last 50 years or so. Figure 1 below, is an attempt to show the approximate relationship between believers in the so-called Majority and Western Worlds. In 1960 for every 1 believer in the Majority World there were 2 in the Western World. In 1980 it was 1 to 1. In 1992 it changed to 2 in the Majority World for every 1 in the Western World. At present it is more than 4 for every 1 believer in the Western World. Evangelical Christianity has undergone a profound change from being Western to becoming Majority World and this trend is continuing.