About > Our History > Historical Overview
Historical Overview
Tentmakers Youth Ministries Australia was founded in March 1991, having been imported from the USA where this ministry continues today. Leaders from the church and the business sector formed a steering committee in Australia to develop the ministry and establish training courses for young adults in part-time ministry in the local church. During that year, 4 Australians attended the training course in Minnesota with Tentmakers USA. These graduates served as leaders for the first Australian course (December of 1991 to January 1992) with Mr. Claude Bowen as the key instructor.Over the next four years Tentmakers as an organisation developed, employing full-time staff and ran the 7 week training courses in Melbourne. Tentmakers introduced a five ‘weeker’ concurrently, to cater for people in ministry and/or the work force who were typically not free for seven weeks of training. The nature of the seven week course in particular was youth ministry oriented, with simulation games, assignments to work on youth group projects and related activities. The Tentmakers training courses were very successful in giving people new ministry skills and vision for an exciting youth ministry to take back with them into their church context or work environment. The effect of introducing a new paradigm of ministry in the church, or creating a new culture as a result of the graduates applying the training was met with moderate to mediocre interest by the church leadership. The enthusiasm of the young graduate to applying new ideas and skills was more often than not mot counterproductive to their ministry influence in the church.
The realisation that if Tentmakers was going to have a greater influence over the long term in it’s ministry to the church, it would need to come from the people with the greatest influence. In reality there seemed to be a lack of this kind of training available right across the church leadership. So in 1996 the name “Tentmakers Youth Ministries” was dropped, the target audience for their primary training course shifted, to provide a skills based program for the pastors, deacons and other key people in the church and the name “Caleb Ministries” was adopted. During the transition period from a youth ministry training focus to a senior leadership one, much of the ethos of the ministry and related functions were reviewed or revamped. The seven week and five week courses were replaced with a three week course (7 weeks was not feasible for pastors to be away from their ministries). In a sense it was a time of rebirth as the major focus was now seen to inspire, equip and resource (recognised) Christian leaders in the church and mission agencies in Australia. Since then Caleb has had leaders from mission groups like APCM (now pioneers), Mission Aviation Fellowship, Operation Mobilisation and Wycliffe Bible Translators and churches across many denominations attend their training courses.
Over the last three years Caleb has also formed part of an association or an alliance of trainers from a variety of mission groups contributing, called the Intermission Training Alliance, to help conduct training courses similar to those offered by Caleb in Australia or Tentmakers in the USA, around the globe. Those groups who currently form this alliance are, Caleb Leadership Ministries Australia, Tentmakers USA, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Operation Mobilisation.
Caleb Leadership Ministries has also helped in the development of a sister organisation in New Zealand, where an overseeing body has been established to coordinate the running of the three week senior leaders training every year. Caleb New Zealand have enjoyed great success in their courses, where the Caleb Leadership Ministries training amongst church leaders is held in high regard, so much so that it is not expected that people in youth ministry will be asked to participate. The course has been warmly accepted by the Baptist Union of NZ where they offer financial subsidy to Baptist pastors applying to do the training.
Much of the evolution of the ministry of Caleb in Australia has been initiated by a handful of people. One person who has contributed immensely to this and the quest for excellence and relevance of Caleb is Martin Boutros, who held the position of director for about 7 years, beginning in 1991. Martin stepped down to concentrate his efforts on the oversight of Caleb’s training courses and materials, in early 1999 to become Caleb’s training coordinator. The position of directorship was given to Stewart Hunt in an acting capacity, before Stewart left Caleb in August 1999 to work with Operation Mobilisation. The role of acting director or team coordinator was initially rotated around three staff, until the end of the year when it was decided one person should continue in an interim role as director or team coordinator. Mark Young was appointed this role and continues in this capacity to date.
The Environment.
The recruiting of senior leaders to participate in the three week training in Australia over the past 4 or 5 years has been difficult. Caleb is faced with a largely saturated market of “training” courses being offered to Christian leaders in Australia. Yet many of these “training courses” are more lecture or seminar based than participatory in nature, where little opportunity to develop ministry skills is given. The Caleb training is unique because it offers to equip leaders with practical tools for ministry. It is “on the job training”. If you are to take on a ministry position within the church, training shows you how to fulfill it effectively. If theological education qualifies you to a position as a pastor and a leader, training empowers you to be a pastor and effective leader. Thus the challenge over the years for Caleb has been to reach the market with a unique training product and demonstrate how it has something very real to offer.