***FIRST YEAR MINISTRY COURSES***

The call of God is a very complex subject!  Not only does God call and use average, unqualified people, but the often unorthodox process of preparation is unpredictable, and varies from person to person.  This course will help you to answer some very challenging questions, such as:

• Is God calling me?

• What do I do next?

• How do I respond?

• Who do I talk to?

• Where do I go?

• Why is God calling me?

• What is the vision that He is giving me?

• Where are the resources for that vision?

• Who will help me with the vision?

• What obstacles and challenges will I face?

• How do I overcome fear of failure?

• What does call fulfillment look like?

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This course will give you a better understanding of God's call, your role, and the path that you may want to take.  Upon completion of this course, the information taught in the remaining courses should help you clarify your call, and necessary next steps required to fulfill your call.

Fulfilling the call of God requires knowing Christ.  Salvation comes through Jesus Christ, and he alone!  But once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we must not stop there.  The true power of Christ is experienced as you develop relationship with him through daily fellowship.  We don't just want you to accept him, we desire for you to know him!  This course will introduce you to the character, personality, and divine power of Jesus as Savior.

Why did Christ have to suffer so bad before dying?  Why did Jesus Christ endure so much suffering for me?  Although the crucifixion of Christ is the anchor of our salvation, we must not overlook God's meaning behind the suffering.  As we get a better understanding of Jesus' suffering in this course, we can better understand our own sufferings, as well as how Christ relates to us during those difficult times.

God usually calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  His call is about you accomplishing something that you can't, and should not be able to, do on your own.  When you've exhausted your own resources and ability, you need the power of God to guide and empower you to do what He has called you to do.  This course will introduce you to the Holy Spirit, lead you into deeper fellowship with Him, and help you to access His power as you fulfill the call of God.

This course is designed to provide a biblical, theological, historical, and practical study of faith, prayer, and fasting with a particular emphasis on assisting students in their personal faith-walk, prayer lives, personal fasting, and their preparation for leadership of faith, prayer, and fasting experiences in local churches.

Reading the Bible is good, but understanding it is even better!  God wants you to have a clear understanding of what He desires to convey through His Holy word.  Every word in scripture unlocks God's character, commands, and spiritual principles that provide practical instructions for living daily lives in a way that executes His plans to save humanity.  This course will teach you how to properly interpret God's word for accurate teaching and effective living!

July 26, 2018

SUMMER BREAK (To Be Announced)

We believe that you should spend most of your Christian life and study reading the bible.  We appreciate the wealth of scholarly publications and information made available to us from brilliant theologians all over the world, but our first core value is to teach the word of God!  This course provides a chronological survey of Old Testament people, places, and events.  It highlights the basic message of the Old Testament books, their contribution to God’s redemptive story line, and their significance for Christian thought and practice.

We believe that you should spend most of your Christian life and study reading the bible.  We appreciate the wealth of scholarly publications and information made available to us from brilliant theologians all over the world, but our first core value is to teach the word of God!  This course provides a chronological survey of New Testament people, places, and events.  It highlights the basic message of the New Testament books, their contribution to God’s redemptive story line, and their significance for Christian thought and practice.

What is the “church?”  What is the purpose of the church?  How can you identify a “true church” from a “false church?”  The early church operated in a way which pleased God.  In this course, we will discuss how to identify a true church, what type of church we should join, and the different activities within the life of the church that God will use to bless us the most.

We believe that God loves us!  But are you living a life that is reflective of that love?  Are you living a life of joy, purpose, hope and fulfillment?  Get ready to have your life transformed as this course introduces you to principles for enjoying a life that overflows with the love of God, then flows out onto your family, friends, neighbors, and the world.

***SECOND YEAR MINISTRY COURSES***

Most of our Christian life is spent in the church, focusing on the congregants within it.  We become consumed with creating programs and environments designed to meet the needs of church members.  However, there is a large group of people who are ignored and overlooked; the churchless.  The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is command to focus on those who don’t go to church (the churchless).  Who are they?  Where are they?  How do we reach them?  What do they want to know?  More importantly, what can we (the churched) learn from them?  This course will help you identify the churchless, understand who they are and what they’re looking for, and how to advocate for the church in a post-Christian culture.

Throughout this book we'll be looking at what forgiveness is and what it isn't, exploring in the light of the Scripture, delivering into its promises while debunking some of its myths.  We'll talk specifically about how we go about doing it, how we actually put God's grace and mercy into practice, as He has done with us.  Forgiveness is not a method to be learned as much as a truth to be lived.

What does the bible teach about how God desires us to live?  What does it say about moral and ethical living?  Unlike the broader discipline of Christian Ethics, Biblical Ethics will serve as a practical guide to answering ethical questions addressed by God in the bible.

The call to Christian ministry is a lifelong journey of leadership development.  Leading God's people is an enormous, and often challenging, responsibility.  Becoming a great leader begins with learning to be a great servant.  To be a great servant, you must first develop a proper attitude toward leadership.  This course will teach you what type of attitude(s) will help you to become the most effective Christian leader that you can be.

There is much uncertainty about what the future holds for humanity.  Although human beings themselves cannot know the future, God knows everything that will occur.  Christians who believe the Bible can also know, and gain certainty, about the future and fate of humanity and the world.  In this study of future events as it concerns "Eschatology (Last Things)", we will examine what will happen to believers and unbelievers when Jesus Christ returns.

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The role of church administrator is more than a job, it's a calling!  Because church's organizational success depends so heavily on great administration, you or administrator will need to have a heart for service, filled with compassion for the people of God.  This course will provide practical insight into role of the administrator as he, or she, helps to birth the pastor's vision and achieve their kingdom objectives.

Congratulations, you've done it!  By now, you should have completed every course in the two-year basic ministry course paradigm.  Your personality and gifts assessments, along with mentorship/advisor sessions, have helped you to clarify your call and guide you down the path of call fulfillment.

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If you are called to pastor, plant a church, or lead a ministry within a new church plant, please register for the 3rd-year pastoral ministry program.

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If you will not be participating in a new church plant, please contact your advisor for graduation details.

***THIRD YEAR PASTORAL MINISTRY CONCENTRATION - THIRD YEAR STUDENTS ONLY***

God called you to preach a specific message for a specific result!  Preaching is about conveying what God is saying, with the intended result of others being saved.  In this course, we will discuss the core components and structure of God's preached message that convicts the hearts and transforms the minds of the hearer, in a way that leads them to repentance and giving their lives to Christ.

Good sermon preparation is hard work!  There are no easy ways or gimmicks that will eliminate that work.  It is, however, possible to develop systems of preparation that will make most effective use of your time.  But where do you start?  How do you do it?  What is a sermon preparation system comprised of?  This course will help you to explore different sermon preparation techniques that provide the structure that you will need to preach God's word.

God gave you a unique personality, voice, and style!  Your uniqueness is what will allow you to reach the people that God draws to you.  If you are new to preaching or sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, you may a bit fearful or uncertain about your ability to speak publicly and effectively communicate your message.  This course will examine various styles and methods of communication to help you find your unique voice, style, delivery, and flow as you develop the confidence to deliver God's message, to God's people.

Sometimes the only way to learn how to preach...is to preach!  Now that you've taken the hermeneutics, homiletics, and sermon preparation courses, you need to preach and preach often.  They key to sharpening your preaching skill and increasing your confidence is repetition.  Since there aren't always opportunities within your local church to preach, this lab will provide you with the preaching opportunities that you need.

Pastors are tasked with the incredibly demanding job of caring for the spiritual, emotional, and, at times‚ physical needs of their people.  This course will provide practical preparation for many of the challenges that you will face as a pastor.

July 23, 2019

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Many Christians do not understand Communion or see it only as an empty ritual.  Communion is more than just consuming the wafer and juice.  It is meant to be time of deep self-examination, moment of repentance, forgiveness, salvation, and at times, re-dedication.  This course provides insights and practical suggestions for giving this sacrament a more prominent role, not just in church life, but in the Christian formation of individuals.

The altar call, or the public invitation, is an essential part of the pastor's preaching ministry.  For two hundred years, it has the routine of the American Evangelical Church to give an altar call at the end of church services.  What is the altar call?  Why is it important?  How do I perform it?  What are the intended results?  This course will explore effective invitation techniques from the early church to present-day evangelists, and provide practical techniques and methods of performing altar calls.

Praise and worship is imperative to every Christian life.  The primary purpose of praising and worshiping God is to strengthen the bond of love between man and God. In other words, our relationship with God is solidified through praise and worship.  In this course, we will explore what praise and worship is, why it is important, how to do it, and its impacts on the life of a believer.

God has commanded us to reach children!  Children's ministry is a great tool for passing on to our children, our faith in Jesus Christ.  Ministering to children is a high and holy calling.  You will be responsible for helping to form the faith of our future ministry servants and leaders.  This course will explore:

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· Preparing the children's ministry

     · Importance of children's ministry

     · Leadership essentials

     · Forming relationships

· Laying the foundation

     · Child development

     · Recruiting

     · Evaluating & Choosing Curriculum

· Framing your children's ministry

     · Resources

     · Creativity

     · Training

The first two years of youth ministry are not about copying what other youth ministries are doing.  It's about making the best choices so that you will survive and overcome many of the difficult challenges of youth ministry.  It is our desire that you become a healthy and well-balanced leader.  Whether you are the youth pastor or just a volunteer, this course will give you practical information on topics such as:

· Dealing with discouragement

· Establishing a solid spiritual foundation

· Building effective relationships with students

· Resolving conflict

· Ministering to parents and families

· Trailblazing change

· Working with volunteers

· Defining a realistic job description

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