APPRENTICESHIP
What does it mean?
In the context of ministry training, an apprenticeship is a model for training that combines classroom education as well as hands-on experience. Unfortunately, most missionaries and church planters that come to Europe have been trained in a context that has not allowed them to gain practical experience.
Another much-needed advantage of this approach is that the local church is involved the entire time.
At the end of the training, the local church can affirm competency and send a fully-equipped church planting team that has demonstrated their calling.
COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATION
How does it work?
Like other competency-based programs, the ATI curriculum is designed with the end result in mind.
With the aid of fellow pastors and practitioners the development of the ATI curriculum began with the end goal in mind. Next, the Aquila team worked backwards to identify the full range of competencies necessary to achieve these goals. In this way the result of the curriculum can be more assured than through traditional approaches. The competencies themselves represent a unified body of knowledge, skills, and character traits that, when achieved, ensure the graduate is fully competent for church planting and marketplace missions.
Apprentices and their needs are at the heart of curriculum development, and the program supports and encourages personalisation in response to experience, personality, context, and pacing. The curricular design ensures that the level and complexity of the competencies are congruent with the achievements required.
The chart below explains the stages of development of the Aquila curriculum and how the various components fit together.
PROGRAM PURPOSE
The purpose of the ATI curriculum is to help churches train leaders and church planters who are competent to fulfil their calling through marketplace ministry.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Church planters in Europe must be Kingdom-minded, must have Godly character, and must contextualise their ministry. These make up the Aquila Program Objectives.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Often known as classes or modules, these are the areas of study that embody the Program Objectives. They summarise the knowledge, character traits, and skills that the apprentices will master.
Competency in each Learning Outcome is developed through the following process:
INPUTS
The sources used to build knowledge in the apprentice.
OUTPUTS
The activities that give evidentiary support for the assessment of competency.
INDICATORS
The measurable criteria for evaluating competency.
COMPETENCY
The standards used to evaluate mastery of key areas within a Learning Outcome.
Fellow workers
WHO ARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS IN YOUR CHURCH?
Let's develop them together.
We partner with churches who are ready to take the lead in forming and sending church planters from within their own congregation. You bring the ministry context and the mentorship. We bring the structure, the academic scaffolding, and the network.
It's a 30-minute conversation to ask your questions and see if we're a good fit for each other.
THIS IS NOT A SPONSORSHIP
It's a mentorship.
Most partnerships in the mission world involve one party giving money and another party doing the work. Aquila network membership is different. When your church partners with Aquila Initiative, you become the primary formation environment for a potential church planter from within your own congregation — and you as their pastor or elder become their Ministry Mentor.
We provide the programme, the academic framework, and the network, without the cost. But the most significant thing your apprentice receives is something we cannot provide: faithful pastoral presence and real-world ministry experience in a local church. That is yours to give.
You are not sending someone to seminary. You are becoming their primary formation environment.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Disciplers
A church partnership with Aquila Initiative works best when you:
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Have identified someone in your congregation with a genuine calling toward church leadership
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Are willing to serve as their Ministry Mentor — not as an administrator, but as a pastor
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Want a proven structure to build that mentorship around, rather than starting from scratch
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Are committed to walking with your candidate through a multi-year programme and your church affirming them at the end
You do not need to be a large church or have a formal leadership training infrastructure. You need a person, a calling, and a willingness to invest in them.
TWO-WAY COMMITMENT
Here's what it looks like in practice:
You bring:
Pastoral oversight and relational presence
Real ministry context for your apprentice
Honest assessment of your apprentice's formation
Congregational engagement throughout the programme
The sending — your church commissions them
Aquila brings:
A structured multi-year programme and competency framework
Academic content, curriculum, and an Academic Mentor
A Network Mentor from the wider Aquila movement
Peer community with other Network member churches
Ongoing guidance and support for you as mentor
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Book a discovery call
A 30-minute conversation with the Aquila team. Tell us about your church and the person you have in mind. We will explain the programme and help you assess fit honestly — this is not a sales call, because our programs are free.
2. Understand the commitment
If there is a good fit, we will walk you through what the Ministry Mentor role involves day to day — time, structure, programme milestones, and the support Aquila Initiative gives you throughout.
3. Begin together
Your apprentice formally joins the Aquila programme. You begin as their Ministry Mentor, with Aquila providing academic and network support at every stage. Your church provides the ministry context. At the end, your church sends them.