CBTE Needs a Theory of Change Before It Claims Transformation

A Bible college can write an excellent competency map and still fail to form competent ministers. The map may integrate biblical knowledge, spiritual maturity, pastoral skill, mission, leadership and public responsibility. Yet it does not explain why particular learners, mentors, practices and assessments will produce those outcomes in a particular church and community.

That missing explanation is a theory of change. It makes visible the pathway from need and context through resources, relationships, learning activity, evidence, feedback and progression to the outcomes a programme claims. It identifies assumptions that may be wrong, conditions that must be present, people whose behaviour must change, early signals of implementation and longer-term evidence of formation in practice.

CBTE means Competency-Based Theological Education. It is distinct from Kenya's general occupational Competency-Based Education and Training, or CBET. For Bible colleges and church-based ministerial formation, the CBTE approach discussed here is a contextual, mentored and competence-demonstration model integrating knowing, being and doing. Its promise should therefore be expressed as a testable formation pathway rather than a confident slogan.

On 8 September 2026, Perspectives on Medical Education published a peer-reviewed international consensus statement presenting a theory of change for competency-based health-professions education. Sixteen authors developed the model through literature review, a structured consensus process and member checking within an international collaborative. It connects core components and implementation strategies to assumptions, mechanisms, stakeholder behaviour,…