Tabor College exists to equip and empower God’s people through quality
Christian tertiary education.
The College is a Pentecostal/ Charismatic Christian Education Centre which
seeks to equip people for effective life and ministry by providing courses
which are Christ-centred, biblically based, academically sound, ministry and
mission oriented, positively expressed and spiritually empowered.
The College believes that education should be holistic, developing people in
the cognitive, spiritual, affective, relational and practical areas of life.
The College, therefore, aims to provide opportunity for integrated academic,
spiritual and practical learning.
While the College considers that preparing people to enter the ministry in
church and denominational settings is one of its very important tasks, it does
not consider that this is the only valid form of ministry; rather it considers
that many vocations and opportunities for Christian service can be genuine
forms of ministry.
To promote sound academic scholarship, Tabor College believes that the best
available teachers/educators should be engaged, people of academic excellence
in their areas and who can stimulate others to learn. The Pentecostal and
Charismatic movements are relatively young and in an early stage of
development, especially in the area of theological scholarship, and they have
much to learn from other traditions. Recognising this, Tabor College has a
policy of drawing on appropriately qualified visiting lecturers from a variety
of Christian traditions and denominations to teach in their areas expertise.
These people make a valued contribution to the ministry of the College. For
advice in academic areas, the College greatly appreciates guidance from
professional, academically qualified persons from a variety of traditions.
Tabor College believes that the Bible is the Word of God and is normative for
Christian belief and behaviour. Hence, while students are encouraged to read
widely and to pursue academic excellence, in every respect, the Scriptures
remain the recognised standard of truth and morality and the only foundation
for Christian truth and praxis.
The Bible clearly indicates that unity between Christians is important for
effective Christian witness and ministry. However, sadly, there are many
widespread misunderstandings between traditions and denominations within the
Christian Church which hamper the work of the gospel. Tabor College believes
that an essential part of Christian ministry education is to learn to
understand, appreciate and respect Christians from traditions other than
one's own, despite differences of understanding in some areas of theology.
Hence, Tabor College values the contributions of visiting teachers from
different traditions as a rich resource in this area of Christian education.
Tabor College is committed to providing relevant and practical education for
life and ministry. The College contends that practical and spiritual
experience, integrated with academic study, reinforce effective learning and
facilitate the application of that learning in life and ministry. For this
reason, in practical areas, lecturers will sometimes be invited to teach on
the basis of their practical expertise and proven success in ministry.
Tabor College recognises that education involves not merely the imparting of
knowledge, but also training in how to expand that knowledge, and how to use
it wisely and effectively. While students need to acquire a core body of
knowledge that can be taught in the classroom by traditional didactic methods,
they also need to learn how to discover and evaluate information themselves,
so that they are able to go on educating themselves after they have finished
their College courses. Hence, Tabor College employs the traditional
information-based didactic approach and the self-directed learning approach
to education, as well as providing opportunities for students to reinforce
knowledge and understanding through practical experience.
The didactic approach is used most extensively in the earlier stages of
undergraduate courses. Supervised self-directed learning and research are
employed increasingly in more advanced studies. The tutorial method is used to
develop critical and analytical skills and provides important preparation for
independent study.
Tabor College recognises that all personal, ministry and spiritual gifts find
their origin in divine grace. The role of the College is not to impart such
gifts, for this is the divine prerogative, but to encourage students to
discover and identify their talents and then to foster and develop them in the
most effective way. Hence, time spent in such activities as corporate prayer,
worship, public expression of charismata, counselling and consultation is seen
as an important part of education for spiritual development and ministry
training.
Tabor College does not consider theological education to be an end in itself,
but rather to be a means to an end, an equipping for life and ministry.
