Brogan son of Senan was a pupil of Bairre, and he did three lessons daily with Bairre till orders were conferred upon him.

  - Anonymous, Life of Bairre of Cork (Irish, 17th century, from an earlier ms.)

...and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

  - 2 Timothy 2.2

The Celtic Revival lasted for nearly 400 years (for a brief historical overview, watch the video on our home page). Given that this movement began in the most pagan lands of Europe, and flourished without any assistance from established churches in the Mediterranean region, we might wonder where the leadership came from for this movement?

Beginning with Patrick, local leaders of the Celtic Revival took it upon themselves to train the next generation of leaders. That training involved periods of instruction - as we see with Bairre of Cork - together with reading and study, practical experience, and spiritual discipline. Candidates were closely mentored and cared for like sons. Usually a man would unite himself with one place or person, where he received all the training he needed until he was ready to be ordained for ministry (to have orders conferred on him). Then he would take his place in the continuing movement for revival that caught up all of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, the Low Countries, Switzerland, and Northern Italy before it began to wind down.

There were no seminaries with tenured faculty. All those who taught men like Brogan were themselves pastors and missionaries. But they were also scholars, in that they knew the Bible well and read the Church Fathers with great attention. And they were deeply spiritual men, committed to transmitting the disciplines of spiritual vitality to every man they trained. They understood that if there were to be leaders for the future, they would have to train them. No one else was going to do that for them.

At The Fellowship of Ailbe we feel this same burden. There are aspects of the Celtic Revival which we believe should be conserved and established in the lives of contemporary Christians. We are committed to training people for a closer walk with Jesus and for more vision and effectiveness in the work of ministry. We believe in a disciplined spiritual life, in seeing all of life as a calling and mission field from the Lord, and in studying the works of God as closely as His Word, so that we might know Him better.

In March we will begin a new phase of our training ministry, making it possible for men to study with our Members in a closely-mentored program, grounded in Scripture, drawing from the vast heritage of Christian history, and designed to promote sound spiritual growth and greater effectiveness in ministry.

Let me encourage you to visit our website and examine the first offerings of The Ailbe Seminary. We're taking registrations right now for men who want to go deeper with the Lord and to be used of Him in furthering the work of revival, renewal, and awakening in their own churches.

So visit the website. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me, and we'll talk. No one is going to do this work for us. At The Fellowship of Ailbe we take it as our privilege and calling to bring this unique training opportunity to men throughout the Church and around the world.

Please pray for us, and if you can support this effort with a gift to our ministry, we will appreciate that very much.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.