A CBTE Mentor Team Must Be Safe to Challenge

A mentor can notice what a classroom examination cannot. Across months of ministry, mentors may see whether a learner interprets Scripture responsibly, receives correction, protects vulnerable people, follows through on promises and turns theological understanding into faithful practice. This is one reason Competency-Based Theological Education has placed mentoring near the centre of its educational design.

CBTE means Competency-Based Theological Education. The focus here is its contextual, mentored application in Bible colleges and church-based ministerial formation. It is distinct from Kenya's general occupational Competency-Based Education and Training, or CBET, and it should not be treated as a universal label for every form of theological education.

The closer mentoring comes to the learner's character, calling, church, family and ministry, however, the more carefully its power must be governed. A relationship intended to form a servant of Christ can become coercive when the same person controls ministry access, spiritual approval, assessment, employment and progression. CBTE therefore needs more than good mentors. It needs mentor teams that learners are safe to question.

The Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa is currently inviting applications for its 2027 mentoring programme for early-career female faculty in theological education. The announced year-long design combines group and individual meetings, an ICETE Academy mentoring course, interdisciplinary matching and quarterly feedback and progress reports. ACTEA Mentoring Program 2027

This is a timely African capacity-building signal.…