Bible Training in Spanish: A Complete Curriculum for Bi-Vocational Pastors and Church Planters

A Complete Curriculum, Already in Spanish

The BTCP curriculum has been fully translated into Spanish and is already in active use. It offers three tracks so that training fits the calling and context of each student:

• BTCP (10 courses) — full pastoral certification for men who meet the biblical qualifications for pastors outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1

• BTCL (8 courses) — Bible Training for Church Leaders, open to any committed disciple, including women and lay leaders

• BTCI (5 courses) — a foundational overview of Scripture, doctrine, and ministry

Every course is designed for a local, life-on-life setting rather than a classroom lecture hall: no exams, no tuition debt, and no need to step away from work or family for years at a time, exactly the flexibility a bi-vocational pastor or a church planter starting a new work needs most.

One of BTCP's Most Successful Programs: Equipping Bi-Vocational Pastors Across the USA

The Spanish-language program in the United States has become one of BTCP's most effective tools for reaching a group that's often overlooked by traditional seminary: bi-vocational pastors and church planters who are already leading, but working around a full-time job to do it.

This training isn't confined to the states with the largest Hispanic populations. Alongside Texas, California, and Florida, BTCP's Spanish curriculum is actively equipping pastors in Arkansas, Tennessee, Ohio, Iowa, and Pennsylvania, and many places in between. Wherever a Spanish-speaking church exists, this training can reach the pastor leading it.

Valentin Chan is a clear example. Originally from Guatemala, he now leads a BTCP training center in Alcoa, Tennessee, teaching and training pastors and leaders across Knoxville, Morristown, and the surrounding East Tennessee region, and is already recruiting new students from Cleveland and Jefferson City to keep the program growing. "It's been a tremendous blessing for my church, for my ministry," he says, "because this Bible Training Center for Pastors is very Christ-centered, very biblical."

Reaching Nearly Every Spanish-Speaking Nation

Latin America is where BTCP's Spanish curriculum has its deepest roots, and the reach is extraordinary: BTCP now has a presence in nearly every Spanish-speaking nation in the world.

That reach traces back to Paul and Denise Lambert, missionaries who spent over three decades bringing BTCP's training, pioneered at Denton Bible Church in Texas, into communities across Latin America, from South America to Mexico and Cuba, including significant work among refugees. Their ministry opened serious Bible study to indigenous believers who had once been told they weren't capable of studying Scripture for themselves. Read more about their story →

That legacy continues today. In Bolivia, one pastor has used BTCP's materials to train more than 60 church leaders in remote areas far from the country's cities. In Venezuela, one ministry has run the BTCP program since 2010, graduating 250 students and planting 21 new churches directly from that training, proof that this curriculum doesn't just teach, it multiplies.

And for individual pastors, the impact is personal. In Costa Rica, Alejo Perea expected his two-year BTCL program to take even longer, studying the entire Bible seemed like a project that would stretch on for years. Instead, after first learning the tools to interpret Scripture correctly, he and his classmates worked through every book of the Bible in just a couple of months, guided by his teacher and, as he puts it, "the ultimate guidance of the Holy Spirit." The experience reshaped his daily spiritual habits and left him, in his own words, "very thankful for BTCP." Read Alejo's full story →

In Cuba, the story is especially remarkable. In spite of sustained political opposition to the Gospel, a flexible, low-profile version of BTCP's training model has still reached thousands of pastors and church leaders on the island, proof that this curriculum can adapt to some of the hardest contexts in the world without losing its depth or faithfulness to Scripture.

Bring BTCP to Your Ministry

BTCP doesn't train students directly. We equip ministry partners, churches, denominations, and mission organizations, to run the program themselves, using our full curriculum, model, and ongoing support.

Whether you're a bi-vocational pastor, a church planter, or a mission organization looking for a ready-made curriculum to equip Spanish-speaking leaders, there are two easy ways to start: