Institut Biblique VIE is a unique model of theological education that The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada designed specifically for Quebec. The school is dedicated to training church leaders who integrate truth and experience. That's what the VIE acronym (which translates 'life') stands for.

Students, who are joined to a cohort, have individual field supervisors who coach them in applying classroom learning to practical ministry and in bringing questions from the field back to the classroom. This rapid back and forth between ministry and theology is the backbone of IBVIE and happens throughout the student's four-year program.

The other unusual approach is the way Institut Biblique VIE (IBVIE) leaders have sought to break out of thetraditional mould of theological education and re-establish the local church as a present and essential partner in the preparation of Kingdom leaders. The goal is for local churches to identify, recommend and pray for candidates with leadership potential, to help students financially and to provide a supportive context for ministry.

Though small, this official Bible school of the C&MA in Canada is making an impact, one life at a time. Says Margaret Rokas Dehms, "I am a fourth-year student at IBVIE, my pastoris a graduate, and nine others fromthe Noyan church have taken courses."

Team leadership

The founders and co-directors of this innovative school have intentionally modeled teamwork in their shared leadership. Jean (John) Martin, Director of Development, and Jean-Yves Cossette, Director of Academic Affairs, have poured much time, energy and prayer into the pioneering and growth of this strategic ministry.

Equipped by his Canadian Theological Seminary (CTS) training and gifted in the areas of theology, Scripture, biblical languages, church planting and emerging church practice within Quebec culture, Cossette has been a prophetic voice within the Church family and worked closely with district leadership in its own strategic plan.

Also a CTS graduate, Martin contributes an expertise in education. In fact, the experiential learning model adopted by IBVIE is in great part the fruit of his PhD degree earned at Université Laval in Quebec City. Martin has a passion for connecting doing to being and knowing. With his eight years of pastoral leadership, he has brought sensitivity to how the local church must grow into its central role in theological education and leadership development.

Committed students

With varied backgrounds, abilities and vocational objectives, IBVIE students (whose average age is 40) share one common purpose: to know Christ and to build his Church in Quebec.

?The programhas been a bigsource of encouragement to me,? says Michel Savard, who expects to graduate in May 2009. "As a result of IBVIE,I am now better equipped to serve the Lordin my current and future ministry responsibilities."

Ninety percent of IBVIE students are pursuing the University of Montreal Certificate in Practical Theology, thanks to a unique arrangement with the university's Roman Catholic Department of Theology. All courses are taken at IBVIE. It takes four years and lots of hard work to complete the part-time program - no small task for those who are juggling full-time jobs, families and ministries.

Take IBVIE graduate Serge Breault as an example. Some would have said that the dairy farmer, father of five and lay pastor of a small church had a full plate. However, trusting God to give an extra measure of strength and grace, Breault took on the commitment of completing the program.

"There were a lot of challenges," he says, "but God helped me entrust my many responsibilities to him. I remember going to class one evening. My family, always supportive, had pitched in to do chores. I also had to leave a hired hand alone to combine the soybeans. I said, 'God you're in control.' Being stretched is hard, but I think it's good." He adds, "I would do it over again any time."

"This school helped me connect theory and practice," says graduate Mathurin Boignan, who before launching into IBVIE already had a PhD in Sociology. "I am already applying my training as I pastor the Du Berger church in Quebec City."

Fresh vision

The transformation of individual lives is great, but with a total of about 150 students in IBVIE's first decade, the number of lives transformed is still too small. Burdened with the desperate need to plant more churches in Quebec and with the sobering lack of lay leaders and accredited workers, IBVIE and the St. Lawrence District have been toiling together to strategically realign the vision and approach of the school with the vision and mission of the family of churches in Quebec.

The goal is to further equip and involve local churches in their leadership training role, to partner and empower church networks, to better serve the district's churches that speak English or other languages and to offer a greater variety of pathways to leadership development.

The present program operates at a university level and requires a commitment that is beyond the reach of many leadership candidates who would welcome other learning options. With a growing number of outreach ministries being birthed in Alliance churches across the province, St. Lawrence District Superintendant Francis Pearson and the District Executive Network yearn for an even greater multiplication of trained and coached leaders.

"One thing seems clear," says Martin. "The goal of shaping and training leaders in the context of the local church is still the voice of God for today and tomorrow. As the district strategizesto make Quebec local churches even morecentral in the maturation and multiplication of the Church, the training arm of the C&MA in Canada for Quebec willalign itself even closer to thesepartners."

A renewed ministry for Institut Biblique VIE shouldbegin to emerge this summer as leaders from IBVIE and the district humbly seek God?s face for a fresh vision of how to attract and equip a new generation of workers to strengthen the fragile churches of Quebec.

Jean (John) Martin, former C&MA pastor and church planter, is Director of Development for Institut Biblique VIE. Email