Meeting with the Association of Christian Religious Practitioners (ACRP)

FOR SA is working together with other lawyers and Christian education specialists to optimise the opportunities presented by the Association of Christian Religious Practitioners (ACRP) to train and equip Christian ministers.

FOR SA met with representatives of the ACRP, which was formed through a merger between two related organisations, namely the Association for Ministry Training Practitioners and the Southern African Association for Pastoral Work.They have been working for the past five years to find a way whereby pastors and others involved in Christian ministry, are able to obtain SAQA recognised and accredited training. Apart from the courses the ACRP will offer, they will also be able to serve as the Assessment Quality Partner to assist other Christian training institutes to gain their own qualification approved by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO), using the curriculum developed by the ACRP as a framework into which they can tailor their own content.

FOR SA believes that these developments have the potential to meet some of the concerns regarding a lack of training of pastors expressed by the CRL Rights Commission, as well as to empower other Christian organisations across the denominational spectrum to develop their own training courses that will be officially recognised. We will continue to interact with the ACRP to help optimise this opportunity.