By Bek

I have been part of a couple of the PTC (Preliminary Theological Certificate) courses run by our Christ Church over the last few years, completing the “Doctrine 1” course with Brian Rumbold early in 2023. (He even accommodated baby Luke in the sessions which was lovely!)

A couple of highlights for me would be: understanding how all of salvation is centred around Christ; being really encouraged by our certainty of salvation achieved through his work (Ephesians PTC course); and finally, reading through and understanding the purpose of the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers (Old Testament 1 PTC course). We’ve also made some great friendships with people from other congregations at Christ Church throughout the courses.

Joel and I have found that a lot of the content from the PTC courses has shaped the way we think about various doctrinal topics, and we definitely feel more equipped to dig into the Bible in an effective way to understand God’s world better. As our understanding of the Bible has grown, we are becoming more confident to engage in gospel-centred conversations (still a work in progress!) and are so thankful that as Christians we are able to be involved in God’s mission of making disciples.

I’d definitely recommend the PTC courses to anyone who is wanting to go a bit more in-depth on certain Bible topics than we would generally cover in a weekly Growth Group. It may seem like a bit of a daunting commitment to dig into a textbook and do some study, but it was so worth it for us, and we are so glad to have been able to take part in the courses!