Theological education needs to be reset to meet the rapid growth of the global church, especially in the majority world where there is a huge demand for more trained pastors. At present, 95% of pastoral leaders worldwide have had no formal training. Michael A. Ortiz is the Executive Director of ICETE, a global hub for theological education which brings together leaders involved in both formal and non-format programs of all kinds from every region of the world. ICETE focuses on quality, collaboration, and resources for theological education. Learn how ICETE seeks to reset the global trajectory of theological education to strengthen the church today and into the future.
Presenter: Michael A. Ortiz was born in New York City to Cuban immigrants. In 2015 he received his PhD in Theological Education from Seminario Teológico Centroamericano (SETECA) following his ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in 2008. Most of his ministry has involved theological education leadership and teaching in Spanish-speaking countries, especially Cuba. He started working at DTS in 2016 and served as the initial director of DTS en Español, a department developed to offer master’s-level programs to the Spanish world. He has also been a professor at DTS in the Missiology and Intercultural Ministries Department since 2016, and currently serves DTS as Vice President for Global Ministries. Concerning ICETE, he became its Executive Director in November of 2019 and has initiated a number of changes, including ICETE’s new mission statement, governance structure, staff expansion, and broadening ICETE’s global footprint not only in the formal, but also in non-formal theological education worldwide. Under his leadership, ICETE C-22 in Izmir proved to be ICETE’s largest and most diverse global consultation in its 40 plus years with over 500 hundred in attendance representing 80 countries and 291 training ministries. Dr. Ortiz has been married to Kathy for over thirty-five years, and they have two adult children.
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