School of Ministry

The School of Ministry is designed primarily for bivocational pastors and rising church leaders serving in smaller, community-based congregations.

Many churches today are led by faithful men and women who carry real responsibility without formal seminary training or full-time vocational ministry status. SOM exists to strengthen and form these leaders — not because pastors are unnecessary, but because the Church increasingly depends on a broader base of equipped leaders.

This program serves:

• Bivocational pastors

• Lay elders and deacons

• Ministry team leaders

• Marketplace leaders carrying spiritual responsibility

• Leaders in small and mid-sized churches where ministry is shared

The School of Ministry is a complement to traditional seminary. It is built to support the kind of leadership ecosystem the Church now requires — one where more people are trained to carry real ministry weight with theological depth and structural wisdom.

Graduates leave equipped to:

• Feel confident in their own calling to provide spiritual leadership within their local church

• Identify and activate the sacred gifts already present in their community

• Train and release leaders instead of unintentionally centralizing ministry around one or two people

• Build leadership multiplication structures that reduce fragility as the church grows

• Support a growing community church as it develops a sustainable leadership foundation

• Design durable systems that protect people, distribute responsibility, and endure beyond any single leader

• Help their community worship, learn, and serve together in shared ownership rather than passive participation

The School of Ministry functions as a practical “mini seminary” for rising leaders — not in the academic sense, but in the formative sense. It provides theological grounding, leadership clarity, and applied ministry structure for those actively serving in real congregations.

You will leave with confidence in your calling, clarity about your role, and a clear framework for helping your church grow without collapsing under its own weight.

It is theological formation applied to leadership.

The School of Ministry is not merely a leadership development program, and it is not an academic theology degree. It is designed to form leaders theologically and structurally inside the life of the local church.

Participants engage:

• Biblical vision for the Church

• Theology of calling and spiritual gifts

• Ecclesiology and shared ministry

• Leadership multiplication and sustainability

• Cultural discernment in a postmodern context

This is formation for real responsibility. It strengthens biblical grounding while equipping leaders to help their church worship, learn, and serve together.

Seminary provides theological depth, biblical languages, church history, and formal pastoral preparation. The School of Ministry focuses on applied formation and leadership structure inside the life of a local church.

SOM is built for leaders who are already serving — especially bivocational pastors and rising lay leaders — who need theological grounding translated into sustainable ministry design.

Many faithful leaders will never attend seminary. Others already have. The School of Ministry serves both by helping leaders:

• Apply ecclesiology to real congregational life

• Activate sacred gifts within the body

• Build shared leadership systems

• Develop durable ministry structures

The School of Ministry is flourishing in community, not just the dissemination of information.

Seminary is a gift to the Church, but it is not practical or accessible for many bivocational pastors and rising leaders serving today. Faithful leadership has always taken many forms — long before formal theological institutions existed. Jesus did not attend seminary. Paul did not lead within modern credentialing systems. The Church has always depended on formed, equipped leaders embedded in real communities.

SOM is built for those leaders.

This is not an academic program. It is a structured framework learned inside a cohort of peers. The cohort becomes a sharpening community — a place to wrestle, clarify, and build durable ministry together.

The School of Ministry does not compete with seminary. It provides accessible theological formation and practical leadership structure for those actively carrying weight in the local church.

The School of Ministry is a six-month cohort experience. Students meet on the last weekend of each month for in person discuss.

Between in-person experiences, students can expect approximately five hours per week of reading and online conversations with peers and faculty.

Participants engage assigned readings and reflection, and complete practical implementation work inside their local church. The rhythm is designed to integrate into real ministry life.

This is not a full-time academic load. It is a steady, structured formation process that unfolds over six months within a community of peers.

Completion is not the end — it is a launch point.

Graduates join an ongoing network of leaders who continue learning, sharpening one another, and building durable churches together. Many participants:

• Implement the framework more deeply within their church

• Invite additional leaders into future cohorts

• Join advanced intensives or coaching environments

• Stay connected through ECN gatherings and alumni opportunities

The goal is not a certificate. The goal is a growing community of leaders committed to shared ministry and long-term faithfulness.

No. The School of Ministry is intentionally interdenominational while remaining grounded in historic Christian orthodoxy.

It affirms:

• The authority of Scripture

• The centrality of the local church

• Shared ministry rooted in spiritual gifts

It does not override denominational distinctives. Governance models, sacramental theology, and secondary doctrinal differences remain within the authority of the local church.

SOM is designed to strengthen churches across traditions — Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, non-denominational, and others — by helping leaders apply shared biblical convictions to durable ministry structures.

The focus is not denominational alignment. It is faithful formation and sustainable leadership within your existing church context.