IBI Graduation 2019 in photos.

Watch as Mimi Kelly interviews some of the MA graduates, Stephen Wilson and Judith Moore-Curtis.

Watch as Jonathan Schuster interviews some of the BA graduates, Brian Hickey, Pam Troy and Linda Desmond.

Our own Patrick Mitchel is author of The Message of Love, the newest Bible Speaks Today (BST) Themes Series published by IVP in September 2019. Here he talks with Louise Halpin about the book.

We asked the staff and students to describe what IBI meant to them in ONE word. This is what we got!

We are committed to training the whole person and talk about loving God: head, heart and hands. We want you to grow in head knowledge, since we are convinced that the more you know God, the more you will love Him. We also desire that your heart will be transformed,  growing in maturity and Christian character. We will equip your hands to be more effective in ministry.

Let me paint you a portrait. Not a familiar sort of portrait like the Mona Lisa where a face looks back at you with an enigmatic little smile. This picture is not composed of paint. One reason is that my artistic abilities aren’t quite up to da Vinci’s standards Another is that what I’m trying to draw goes beyond physical appearance. So this portrait is drawn by words; it is a sketch of what, in biblical terms, are far more important things than what you and I happen to look like physically.

The past few decades have seen a significant increase in interest in the subject of leadership, both generally and within the Church. So much so that it’s tempting to paraphrase Ecclesiastes: ‘Of the making of books (and articles) on leadership, there is no end’

how we ‘do’ Christian ministry is more important than what we do. Now this might sound far too passive and unfocused for those of us who are goal-orientated achievers! But I want to stand by this statement. What we do is, of course, significant. But if Christian ministry is to live up to its name, it means doing things Jesus’ way. When we try to achieve things for God in ways that are not worthy of God then we are doing more harm than good – both to ourselves and those with whom we are working.