Held in Vulcan, Brasov, on October 21-23 2010, the first ATS module dealt with “The Biblical Concept of the Pastor”. 26 students were involved in studying this topic, under Andy Saidel and Mihai Dumitrascu’s diligent leading.
Aurel Dobre, one of the students who recently began the journey in this new pastoral theology training course shared with us the following insights: “I was extremely glad to be able to meet my ATS colleagues. The meeting we had in Vulcan was a great blessing. An extraordinary experience that is beyond words – I felt God’s power, we could pray for one another and we could share our ministry experiences. I tell you from my heart – this is what I wanted from a pastoral theology course. Regarding the content, I was overwhelmed by the quality, by the useful and very practical advices. It is a great blessing for me to be able to attend these courses”.
Another freshman, Mircea-Petru Mandrutau told us: “We met for the first module with a desire to get to know the other participants. Together, we want to get closer to God, learn more, interact and then be able to serve in the churches God placed each one of us. I could say God pleasantly surprised me, bringing together people from different places, different ages, different churches and denominations. Once again, “unity in diversity” was prevalent and we experienced what David wrote thousands of years ago, in Psalm 133: “how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity… for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore”.
According to Mihai Dumitrascu, the program’s coordinator, the next module will take place on February 2-5, with the topic: “The Pastor as Student and Difficult Topics”.
This module’s instructors, Nelu Muresan and Ovidiu Ghita will focus on developing the skills to biblical exegesis, and, also, contextual application.