How Langham Partnership trains pastors around the world

Last year, more than 16,819 pastors and church leaders attended Langham Preaching seminars, learning the basics of how to understand and teach God’s Word clearly, faithfully and relevantly.

These seminars were held in over 80 countries across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, where 80% of pastors have never had formal training. They fill a key gap where formal theological education is still out of reach for most preachers.

How does the training work?

• Langham goes where it’s invited. Once church leaders in a country express interest, our continental teams work with those leaders to begin seminars.
• Langham starts by equipping a team of local facilitators to lead the seminars and partners with local churches to adapt the material for their needs.
• Church leaders then go through up to three levels of training on the fundamentals of biblical exegesis, often over the course of three years.
  • Level 1 introduces the foundations of biblical preaching.
  • Level 2 typically covers preaching from the New Testament.
  • Level 3 typically tackles preaching from the Old Testament.
• As they move through the seminars, church leaders join preaching clubs—small groups that meet regularly to practice what they learned and to encourage one another.
• These pastors return to their congregations, Sunday schools and small groups equipped to preach God’s Word clearly, faithfully and relevantly.

A multiplying impact

Most Langham-trained church leaders pass the tools they learned to at least 60 others. These tools allow them to stay faithful to God’s Word in places where many pastors preach a false or shallow version of the gospel. 

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In Argentina, many churches have experienced this transformation firsthand. Langham-trained pastor Ariel Castro said, “I think that in the past I always had very good intentions when giving a sermon. But I didn’t realize how messy it could be when putting it together. Langham has helped me and our entire team to give more concrete, concise and direct sermons that will help our people remember the teaching and impact their lives.”

Andrea Chialva, whose pastor went through Langham’s training, said she now better understands the Word and how to apply it to her life. “When I first started attending this church, Pastor Marcelo’s sermons were more difficult to understand. He’d go off on tangents. Now he preaches [in such a] way that makes you think. He provides context for the scripture so we can take what we are learning and apply it.

Eduardo Robyna, an elder at Evangelical Christian Church General Paz, thinks about it as being a “bridge between the text and the real life of people.” He says, “The Langham method is simple, but deep.”