Theological Education Support Grant
Preparing for pastoral ministry
The Theological Education Support Grant helps those preparing for pastoral ministry by providing financial assistance towards their first level of theological education. It is available to full-time and part-time students, as well as ministers who have not previously undertaken formal theological training.
Grants of up to £8,000 per year are available for the duration of an approved course, for up to three years of full-time study or six years of part-time study. Funding is paid directly to the theological institution and is intended to support study that equips students for faithful pastoral ministry within the British Isles.
Applicants must hold Particular Baptist convictions and demonstrate a clear calling to ministry. Courses should provide a broad theological education, including biblical studies, systematic theology, church history, Baptist principles, pastoral studies, ethics, and apologetics, with appropriate supervision throughout.
Applications are supported by references and carefully considered by the Executive Committee. Students who receive a grant are encouraged to share, at the end of their studies, how the Fund has supported them in preparing for ministry.
This grant reflects the Fund's commitment to investing in the next generation of pastors by helping remove financial barriers to theological training and equipping men for faithful, long-term gospel ministry.
Please note the deadline for applications is 31 May before each academic year starting in September.
Conditions
1. The Fund gives grants to full or part-time students undertaking their first level training for the ministry or to ministers who have not previously undertaken such a course. It does not provide grants for other training, such as for youth or music ministry.
2. Under the terms on which it was established, the Fund can only make grants to those who are Particular Baptists by conviction within Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. In line with its geographical remit, the Fund will therefore only pay grants to those who are expecting to enter ministry in the British Isles and where the study is undertaken at an institution in the British Isles.
3. Pastors whose churches are currently receiving a Home Mission Pastoral Grant may apply for a Theological Education Support Grant but in order to be successful must be able to demonstrate that it would be clearly beneficial to their church for them to undertake such study.
4. The following areas of study should be covered:
1 Biblical Introduction
Old Testament
New Testament
2 Biblical Hermeneutics
3 Systematic Theology
4 Church History
The first 500 years
The Reformation
The 20th Century
5 Baptist Church History
6 Baptist Principles
7 Pastoral Studies
8 Comparative Religions
9 Christian Ethics
10 Apologetics
The Fund will be flexible in assessing a course and it is not necessary that all these modules should be studied on a single course. A college course might, for example, be supplemented with a correspondence course in Comparative Religion. However, no grant will be given to students training for the ministry unless Baptist Church History and Baptist principles are studied.
5. No grant will be given unless your study is properly supervised. This supervision may be by a college, a minister of several years’ standing or other person with experience in the field/fields being studied.
6. The annual grant is £8,000 and will be awarded over the life of the study, up to a maximum of 3 years full-time or 6 years part-time. Grants for part-time study will be calculated pro rata. Grants are not paid for modules.
7. The grant is completely at the Fund’s discretion. Resources are limited and grants may be refused because the total allocation has been spent.
8. Your application must be supported by a recommendation from the minister and/or elders of the church where you are a member and from your Area Minister, Association Secretary, or a minister of another church, provided they know you personally. Colleges must act as a referee, if you have already studied there for at least a year.
9. The grant is awarded to the institution directly.
10. The application should reach the PBF Secretary no later than 31 May in order that a decision may be made by 31 July of the same year.
11. Recipients of grants are asked to provide the Fund with a report at the end of their studies. The Secretary may ask if it can be placed on the Fund’s website to encourage others to apply but will never do so without first seeking the student’s consent.