Partnership Agreement & Application

This application is only to be completed if one of the following is true:

1. You have completed a Teacher Training Workshop with BTCP.

 - or - 

2. You are an existing partner and have been asked to update your Partnership Agreement. 

 - or - 

3. You have been given permission to complete the Partnership Agreement prior to a training workshop.

 

If you do not fulfill one of the above requirements, please do not complete a partnership application without first speaking to BTCP. 

BTCP's Core Values: 

In an effort to define the working relationship between The Bible Training Centre for Pastors (BTCP) and the implementing partner, the following constitutes their partnership agreement:

The Purpose of BTCP is to glorify God by providing a biblical concept and curriculum for equipping pastors and leaders for local church ministry.

• God’s declared will is that local expressions of the Body of Christ reach maturity. (Ephesians 4:14-15)
• Local churches mature as trained, gifted leaders equip believers for ministry. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
• The Word of God is the most effective means by which church leaders are trained. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• Life-on-life training provided by a qualified teacher in a relational setting is essential for effective training. (Acts 19:8-10; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:8)
• Understanding of a body of knowledge (the Faith), development of ministry skills, and growth in personal character are necessary for a pastor or church leader to be adequately trained. (1 Timothy 3:1-7; 1 Peter 5:2-4; Jude 3)
• The most effective pastor or church leader is one from his own culture who has been adequately trained. (Acts 18:24-28; Titus 1:5)
• Leaders must multiply themselves. (Acts 16:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:1-2)

 

What Partners can expect from BTCP:

Use of Curriculum

BTCP grants to the Implementing Partner the non-exclusive right to use the BTCP concept and curriculum to train national pastors and other leaders for church ministry. BTCP reserves the right to partner separately with others who may be working in the same region/area.

Provision of Manuals

BTCP will provide manuals (based on availability) to the Implementing Partner for the normal prices stipulated. The Implementing Partner will obtain all manuals whether in English or other languages directly from BTCP by request through our main office (orders@btcp.com) unless otherwise agreed to in writing. Manuals will primarily be delivered via air shipment and the partner will be responsible for all fees associated with receiving, transporting, storage and duty upon arrival. The Implementing Partner should plan for a 3 month lead time on all orders in order to ensure their availability.

Teacher Training Workshop

All partners must attend (or have an authorized associate attend) a two-day Teacher Trainer Workshop (TTW) conducted by BTCP or by an authorized partner. The TTW serves the purpose of equipping those who will be coordinating/teaching BTCP to use the curriculum and familiarizing them with its content and layout. The Implementing partner is responsible for passing on the information from the TTW to all leadership and teachers who were not able to attend a TTW. BTCP will provide BTCP Teacher Training Guidelines and other resources to facilitate the Implementing Partner in transferring this knowledge.

Translated Versions of BTCP Manuals

Any translation projects undertaken by the Implementing Partner will require the prior written permission of BTCP and will be subject to the BTCP Translation Guidelines which outline the requirements for translation and printing. Please contact Matt Hulgan (matt@btcp.com) if you are interested in translating the BTCP materials into another language.

Evaluation and Assessment of Classes

It is the responsibility of the partner to ensure that BTCP classes are conducted according to the standards outlined in this agreement and in the BTCP Program Summary Manual where you will find BTCP Quality Control and Evaluation Forms are available for review and use by our partners.

 

What BTCP expects of its Partners:

Partnership Parameters – Common expectations for BTCP ministry partners working in the same country:

• BTCP and all implementing partners are all committed to the goal of training the world’s untrained pastors and church leaders.
• BTCP respects the various partnering organizations working to achieve this goal, recognizing their core values and differing ministry models.
• While allowing for various models for delivering training, BTCP expects all of our partners to:

  -   conduct quality equipping in an in-person, life-on-life discipleship environment. BTCP may not be delivered or made available online.

  -   adhere to the per-course hours outlined on page 5 of every BTCP manual

  -   provide each student their own Study Bible (where available) and manual for each course at a reasonable cost. No BTCP programs are allowed where students do not receive and retain a personal manual for each course.

• Each partner is accountable to BTCP and BTCP is accountable to each partner, according to this partnership agreement. We strongly encourage our partners to communicate their ministry activities in the same country to one another in order to avoid interfering with each other’s efforts. This may include coordinating pricing of manuals and training in order to avoid damaging already established programs.
• BTCP trusts our partners not to recruit students from other existing classes. When more convenient for the student to switch to another partner’s class, we trust that communication will be made with the partner(s) that may be affected by the student’s move.
• Partners are encouraged to network and coordinate together as they so desire. Any issues with another partner’s implementation of the BTCP program that cannot be resolved must be addressed with the BTCP office.

In summary: BTCP and our Implementing Partners are committed to the goal of delivering consistent, quality instruction to untrained pastors and church leaders, recognizing different ministry models, and respecting the various partners alongside whom we labor.

Use of Curriculum

The Implementing Partner covenants and agrees to use the BTCP concept and curriculum only for its intended and agreed to purposes. The permission granted is only for specific training programs sponsored and overseen by the Implementing Partner. No permission is granted for further distribution of the BTCP curriculum to other organizations or individuals. Any other use of the BTCP concept or curriculum will require the prior written approval of BTCP. Other subjects (not covered in the BTCP manuals) may be taught after BTCP is finished or can be coordinated with BTCP courses with prior written approval.

What BTCP expects of its Partners (cont.):

Payment for Manuals

The implementing partner agrees to pay current established prices for BTCP manuals ordered for its use. Once the order is shipped, BTCP will send an invoice by email to the Implementing Partner. Payment within 30 days is preferred. If more time than 60 days is needed, please notify BTCP. For orders of over 500 manuals a 50% down payment may be due in advance. 

Program Summary Manual

The Program Summary Manual (when available in the appropriate language) must be provided to all of the partner’s coordinators and teachers. This manual serves as an ongoing resource guide for properly establishing and conducting BTCP and BTCL classes.

Communication and Reports

Once a year and more frequently if requested, The Implementing Partner will provide to the BTCP office a summary report of classes being taught using the BTCP curriculum. This report will provide the start date, city and country, and the number of students in each class. For the purposes of the report, a class is defined as the same group of students proceeding together through a standard BTCP or BTCL track. If reports are not supplied after a reasonable number of requests then the right to order manuals from BTCP will be rescinded.

Modification or Termination

This “Partnership Agreement” can be modified at any time by an amendment signed by both parties, or it may be terminated at any time for any reason by either party upon the giving of 30 days prior written notice to the other.

What BTCP expects of its Partners (cont.):

Study Bible Requirements: 

In languages and locations where available, a Study Bible is a requirement for all students. Each student must be provided with their own Study Bible and each class will use the same Study Bible.

When taught in English, the following Study Bibles are preapproved for use with the BTCP program:

• The NASB Study Bible Copyright ©1999 by Zondervan
• The KJV Study Bible Copyright ©2002 by Zondervan
• The ESV Study Bible Copyright ©2008 by Crossway Bibles
• The NKJV Study Bible Copyright ©1997, 2007 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
• The CSB Study Bible Copyright ©2017 by Holman Bible Publishers

Unless otherwise agreed to in writing, all English classes will use only one of these approved Study Bibles and the 10 BTCP Course Manuals. No other manuals or textbooks may be used without prior written approval.

Classes in languages where an approved Study Bible is unavailable may select an available and appropriate Study Bible. If no Study Bible is available in a given language, please notify BTCP and ensure that each student uses the same translation of the Bible in that language.

BTCP and BTCL:

The primary goal of BTCP is to provide training programs based on key scriptures such as

1 Corinthians 11 and 14; 1 Timothy 2 and 3; 2 Timothy 2:1-2; Titus 1 and 2.

Training men as pastors is BTCP’s priority. BTCP classes must include a significant percentage of the intended target group (pastors, lay pastors, elders, deacons, evangelists, church planters). Women may not be trained in a BTCP class in order to be pastors.

Bible Training for Church Leaders (BTCL) classes may contain men and women. Women may be approved to teach a BTCL class where all students are women. Men who are divorced may be trained in a BTCP or BTCL class to receive a BTCL Certificate but may not be trained in a BTCP class to be a pastor. BTCL Students may complete all ten courses in the BTCL track except for the “Pastoral Training” component of course #4 and their BTCL certificate will reflect this.

The distinction between BTCP and BTCL classes is described in detail on p. 14-16 of the Program Summary Manual.

Teacher Qualifications:

Teachers must be qualified, having actual teaching and/or pastoral experience and having completed at least some formal theological training, have taken all 10 BTCP courses as a student and been recommended to be a teacher, or have equivalent Bible knowledge and ministry experience. Any exceptions to these qualifications must receive BTCP approval.

Qualified women are encouraged to teach BTCL classes where all the students are women but may not teach a BTCP Class.

All teachers should complete a BTCP teacher application that is kept on file with the Implementing Partner and must be in substantial agreement with the BTCP doctrinal statement (found at the end of each BTCP manual) in both belief and practice.

The next section is a series of essential aspects of the Partnership Agreement. Please initial each section to signify your agreement to fulfill each requirement. Any exceptions to these requirements can only be made with prior written consent from BTCP. If you have any questions regarding any point, please contact our office. 

1. Classes will be conducted live and in-person with a focus toward life-on-life discipleship.
2. Classes typically should not have over 25 students.
3. Classes must begin with course #1 and proceed through the courses in order based on the guidelines for BTCP and BTCL.
4. Students must attend at least 75% of each course.

1. Teachers must be trained according to BTCP Teacher Train­ing Workshop guidelines. 
2. For a BTCP or BTCL class containing men the teacher should always be a biblically qualified man. Qualified women are always encouraged to lead a women’s BTCL class.

1. Each student must receive and keep his/her own manual for each course.
2. Every student must pay for the cost, or at least an appropriate portion of the cost, of the course manuals.
3. All manuals must be ordered from the BTCP office (orders@btcp.com). 
4. Please honor the BTCP copywrite. The manuals must not be duplicated, photocopied, printed, translated or edited without the express written approval of BTCP.

1. Reporting of the status of classes must occur at least once a year (or when requested). Failure to do so may result in the partnership being put on hold. 
2. BTCP will be notified of all new and graduated classes. 

Please provide the best email address for BTCP to contact the primary signatory of this partnership agreement. 

All invoices will be sent to this email address. Later, you will have the opportunity to provide additional contacts for billing purposes. 

We require a valid email address and/or phone number for the recipient of every shipment. This is needed so that the recipient can be contacted in the case there is an issue with delivery. If you don't have this information, you can provide it at the time of your first order. 

NOTE: We cannot ship to PO Boxes. Please provide a different shipping address if you put in a PO box above. 

Other Members of your Partnership

Please add any other individuals who may interract with BTCP in regards to your partnership. Include anyone who will submit orders, make changes to partnership information, or pay invoices. 

Thank you for completing this application! We look forward to you joining us in strengthening the local church throughout the world. 

We will contact you once the application is processed and approved.