Based on our training philosophy and current needs in Christian Leadership, LFI offers a training platform with a variety of online courses. Participants can choose the course or courses they need at this stage of their lives and ministry. The courses will be offered periodically according to an announced schedule. Below is a list of the courses we intend to offer.
Heart, Leader and leadership: Overcoming obstacles of the leader’s heart – Daniel Fodorean
Transforming and Developing the Leader’s Heart
An overview of leadership in the Bible
Pastoral Ministry Theology according to the Pastoral Epistles
The Pastor-Theologian
Pastoral Job Descriptions
Ascending Health: Lifting Leaders and Teams to Greater Heights
Your Family Matters
Pastor’s wife: challenges and opportunities
Pastor as a father: how to pastor my kids to follow Jesus
Healthy Church Leadership
Management for Church Leaders
Church Revitalization Step by Step
Leading church’s families ministry in a changing world
Planting and leading multiethnic and multicultural church
Christian Leader in the public sphere
You Are in Full-time Christian Service—Seven Keys to Finding Direction, Satisfaction and Worship in Our Daily Duties
Leading muslim to Christ: a theology of mission
Pastor as a trainer: A model of training character leaders in a local church
Leader-Mentor: Obeying Jesus by Making Disciples
Inductive Leadership: Jesus, the Twelve, and Jerusalem through Mark’s Lens
PROFESSORS
We have teachers who are experts in the field they are teaching, people of God with extensive experience in teaching, Christian ministry, and leadership. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Dr. Adrian Ban
Adrian Ban is a marriage and family counselor, accredited in Biblical Counseling, Systemic Therapy and Rational-Emotive and Behavioral Therapy. Adrian has some 20 years of experience in premarital and marriage counseling in the local church. Since 2018 he has been an Adjunct Professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, USA, in the doctoral program started in Romania in 2014. He completed his Doctoral studies in 2001 at Trinity International Divinity School in Deerfield, USA, where he received his PhD in Education.
Drd. Daniel Bara
Daniel Bara is the senior pastor of Connected Life Church, Birmingham, UK, a multi-ethnic and multi-congregational church. This church is the result of a vision that Daniel had to successfully merge two churches he has been pastoring at the same time. He previously served as a pastor in Constanta, Romania until he moved to the UK where he planted from scratch the former Emmaus Church Birmingham. He is also the founder of Emmaus International Ministries, a church planting movement.
Dr. Emilian Cîra
Emilian Cîra is the pastor of Genesis Baptist Church in Cluj-Napoca. He completed a DMin program in Leadership (DMin. at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO), TCMI Institute, Austria (MA, MDiv) and Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Arad (BA, MA). He is the president of the Nehemiah Bible College in Cluj-Napoca and a professor at the “Emanuel” Baptist Theological High School in Cluj-Napoca.
Dr.Daniel Fodorean
Daniel Fodorean is the Dean of the School of Theology and Associate Professor of Applied Theology at the Baptist Theological Institute of Bucharest, Director of Leader Formation Institute and Antioch Church Network, and Teacher Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, Bucharest. He is also the Coordinator of the E-learning Developer Program and an associate member of The Academy of Romanian Scientists. Daniel is one of the founders of the Constanta Baptist Association. He has over 26 years of pastoral experience and expertise in church transformation, organizational and church leadership, church law and administration, mission and church planting, and pre-university and university Christian education. Daniel is the author (or co-author) of five books and more articles and studies. He is married to Felicia and they have an adult son Nathanael who is twenty-one.
Rev. Sam Ingrassia
Reverend Sam Ingrassia has served God’s Kingdom as a local church pastor, bible college professor, missionary, church mobilizer, leadership developer, life coach and church planter for 40 years. Working with e3 Partners Ministry, headquartered in Plano Texas, Sam has led multi-faceted missional teams to Russia, Moldova, Sicily, Venezuela, Paraguay, Brazil, Haiti and Guatemala; with a special focus long-term focus in Romania for 17 years and Colombia for his entire tenure. Sam Ingrassia is an engaging and passionate teacher of God’s Word and a mentor of Christian leaders in both ministry and business platforms. Warm, practical and personal, Sam will challenge and equip you to pursue your spiritual life and leadership in a fresh and holistic manner. Sam is married to his wife Vicki for 47 years. They have authored 2 books, on the vitality of praying Scripture with our spouse. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. Sam and Vicki have 3 daughters, 2 sons-in-law; and 3 grandchildren.
Dr. Rob Jackson
Rob Jackson is currently the president of Romanian American Mission and the director of the Office of Church Health of Alabama Baptist Mission. His work involves helping healthy churches become healthier and unhealthy churches to become healthy. His education includes a Master of Divinity (1994) and a Doctorate of Philosophy (1999) at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Along his life, Rob served the Lord as pastor in different churches and organizations. Rob and his wife Tonya are living in the Prattville area, Alabama. They have one daughter, Abigail.
Dr. Stan Johnson
Stan Johnson is a Presbyterian pastor, with degrees from UC Berkeley (B.A., ’71), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div., ’75), the University of Notre Dame (M.A., ’83), and Louisville Theological Seminary (D.Min.,’98). He has had a life-long appreciation for the Scriptures, and later for Protestant/Reformed theology (e.g. Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and Barth), combined with a forty-year appreciation for and use of New Testament Greek (which he delights in teaching). He has pastored in California, Indiana, and Massachusetts, and presently is the parish associate of Zionsville Presbyterian Church, Indiana. He has trained as a spiritual director, and provides spiritual direction for theologians, pastors, and theological students in the Philippines, India, Uganda, and Romania, as well as in the US. For pastors with few resources, he has published The Sent One: A Working Resource to John’s Gospel (Amazon), translated into Romanian as Trimisul. He has written, but yet unpublished, The Great Opening: A Working Resource to Mark’s Gospel, Vol. 1&2, and three yet-unpublished novels, The Legends of Anapau. His Dmin. dissertation is: Reformed Thinking for the 21st Century (a focus upon the Enlightenment and Paul’s Letter to the Romans.) He regularly posts a blog, Shepherd to Shepherds (stanjohnson.org). With his wife, Mary, he delights in their children and seven grandchildren. He and Mary now live in Noblesville, Indiana.
Dr. Bill Lawrence
Bill Lawrence is the President of Leader Formation International, Senior Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Ministries and Adjunct Professor of DMin Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary where he served full-time for more than twenty-three years (1981-2004). During this time he also served as the Executive Director of the Center for Christian Leadership for twelve years. Bill is the author of two books: Beyond the Bottom Line: Where Faith and Business Meet (Moody Press) and Effective Pastoring (Word Publishing). Bill served twelve years as founding pastor of South Hills Community Church, San Jose, CA (1969 to 1981). He has also served as Interim Pastor of Northwest Bible Church, Dallas, TX, on two different occasions. Throughout the past thirty-seven years, Dr. Lawrence has ministered in more than thirty nations. His focus is on the transformation of the hearts of leaders who are impacting the nations. Since founding Leader Formation International in 2002, Bill has spoken at conferences, led seminars, conducted worskshops, and mentored leaders in Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. His goal is to engage the participants in their formation as leaders by leading them to see God’s hand in their formation and encouraging them to integrate their character with their competencies. Much of his ministry has occurred in closed countries where church leadership is just emerging. He has been married to Lynna for over 40 years and they have three married sons and several grandchildren.
Dr. Joel Lawrence
Dr. Joel Lawrence is the executive director of the Center for Pastor Theologians since 2020. He holds a PhD in Theology from Cambridge University and is a founding fellow of the CPT in the St. Anselm Fellowship. He previously served on the faculty at Bethel Seminary and as the Senior Pastor of Central Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN.
Dr. Ciprian Gheorghe-Luca
Ciprian Gheorghe-Luca is a Pentecostal theologian and pastor from Bucharest, Romania. He holds a degree in Pentecostal pastoral and didactic theology from the University of Bucharest (Pentecostal Theological Institute, 2002) and a PhD in Pentecostal public theology from “Aurel Vlaicu” University in Arad (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2022). He has a rich experience in the field of leadership, as he has held various leadership positions, both at ecclesiastical (pastoral) and organizational (private and public) level. Most recently, between 2015 and 2022, he has been the director of the “Emanuel” Pentecostal Theological High School in Bucharest, where he also taught several theological subjects. Currently, he serves as the senior pastor of “Emanuel” Christian Center in Bucharest and is involved in several international theological research projects. His main competencies and research directions are in the field of Pentecostal theology, the relationship between the church and public life, Christian ethics, as well as pastoral and didactic theology.
Dr. Daryl McCarthy
Daryl McCarthy, Director, The Leadership Anvil equips Christian academics, pastors, and ministry leaders for effective service. He is also a Theological Education Teaching Fellow with One Mission Society. From 2015-2021 he worked asVice President of Academic Programs and Strategy at Forum of Christian Leaders (FOCL), and as Director of the European Leadership Forum Academic Network and the Cambridge Scholars Network. In addition to writing and speaking, he mentors Christian professors and ministry leaders in Europe and beyond. He has been speaking at universities, conferences, and churches globally for more than 30 years. After launching Global Scholars which placed Christians in teaching positions at universities outside of North America, he served as President from 1988 until 2014. Daryl is a long-time member of the Evangelical Theological Society. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary School of Intercultural Studies, Master of Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary, Master of Arts in Philosophy of Religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Bachelor of Theology from Kansas Christian College. Daryl and his wife Dr. Teri McCarthy lived in Lithuania from 2010 until 2015 where they both taught at the Lithuania University of Educational Sciences in Vilnius. Their son and daughter are both married and have blessed them with six grandchildren.
Dr. David Merkh
David Merkh has been married to Carol Sue since 1982. The couple has six children and 16 grandchildren. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences from the University of Cedarville (USA – 1981), a Master of Theology (Th.M.) from Dallas Theological Seminary (1986) and a Doctor of Ministries (D.Min.) in family ministry at the same seminary (2003). Davi is a missionary in Brazil since 1987, working as a teacher at the Word of Life Bible Seminary, Atibaia, SP. He has served as one of the assistant pastors of the First Baptist Church of Atibaia since 1987.
Dr. Michael Palmer
He is the director of Mike Palmer Ministries. Mike studied Master of Divinity (1978) and Doctor of Ministry (1994) at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has given most of his adult life forty years, in pastoral ministry in a local church and since 1995 he has been heavily involved in international missions.
Rev. Corneliu Serdenciuc
Pastor Corneliu Serdenciuc graduated at Baptist Theological Institute in Bucharest (1998), and is the senior pastor of “Holy Trinity” Baptist Church in Medgidia. He is involved in continuous leadership training with the Leader Formation Network and is one of the members of the Leadership Team of the Church Revitalization Network within the Romanian Leadership Forum.
Drd. Aurel Silivestru
Aurel Silivestru is the pastor of Nova Vita Church in Constanta, with over 21 years of experience in pastoral ministry and church planting. Since 2012 he is the director of the radio station Vocea Evangheliei in Constanta. Academically, he is a graduate of a bachelor’s and master’s program in theology and a bachelor’s and master’s program in economics. Since 2022 he is enrolled in a PhD program in theology at the University of Bucharest.
Barry Voss
Barry Voss is the President and founder of FaithLife Ministries. He graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1977 with a Master’s Degree in Economics and spent twenty eight years in the business world as an Economist and Database Marketer. He began training pastors and church leaders in the mission field in 1996 and was the developer of the Management for Church Leaders™ training course and manual in 2001. He has personally trained more than 10,000 pastors & church leaders in over 40 nations and has established a global trainer network of 70 trainers of this material in over 40 nations. The course material has also been published in a self-training book format for individual based training and was also recorded for inclusion in the degree programs offered by Lucent University, an online Bible College. He is a member and elder of Christ the Shepherd Lutheran Church in Alpharetta, GA and lead’s a men’s Bible study group and teaches adult classes. He also serves on their worship team as a guitarist and worship leader. He and his wife Kim have two adult children and 5 grandchildren and live in Cumming, GA near Atlanta. For further information and background on their ministry, please visit www.faithlifeministries.net.
Dr. Charles White
Dr. Charles White is professor of Christian Thought & History at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, USA. Harvard, Cambridge, and Boston universities have contributed to his education. Before he became a university professor he was minister to students in Boston’s Park Street Church where he helped to develop a discipling ministry that involved more than 200 students. He has written two books and a score of academic articles. Bible translation is one of his passions, and he has worked on twenty-five of the twenty-seven New Testament books in seven different languages. He has taught environmentalists in Michigan, physicians in Mexico, pastors in Canada, university students in England, Bible college students in Australia, Muslims in Nigeria, evangelists in India, missionaries in the Philippines and Rwanda, church planters in Iraq, ministers in Jordan, disciplers in Ethiopia, and college professors in Poland. He is the father of four grown children and has run more than 100,000 kilometers since he turned 40.
Dr. Hershael York
Hershael York has served as the 11th dean of Southern Seminary’s School of Theology since 2018, and as the Victor and Louise Lester Professor of Christian Preaching since 1999. Since coming to Southern in 1997, York has authored two books on speaking and preaching and has written dozens of articles in journals and online publications. His preaching has been featured in Preaching Today as among the best in North America, and he has twice preached at the International Congress on preaching in Cambridge, England. He currently serves as the senior pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Kentucky, where he has led the 200-year-old church in growth that necessitated relocation to a 100-acre campus and new facilities. York frequently ministers internationally, especially in Brazil, where his father was a missionary. Before joining the faculty of Southern Seminary, York pastored the Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Lexington and the First Baptist Church of Marion, Arkansas.
CONFERENCES
We organize conferences at the local level in partnership with various local churches, but also at the national and international level, with themes in the field of leadership and applied ecclesiology.
Reekklesia is the name of a series of conferences that we organize on various topics about the transformation of the church.
