The Ministry School is a group of curious people who want to take the next step in the exploration of their faith and/or preparation for any type of ministry in the Christian tradition. The School will base itself on a fairly comprehensive curriculum covering as much of the spectrum of Christian thought as possible, but each student will create his or her own program based on that curriculum, working as much or as little as their needs and interests dictate--except for those who are interested in being considered for eventual ordination, who would be required to complete the entire course curriculum. There will be a combination of "distance learning," and actual classroom study, and we'll keep the entire process as low impact as possible for all of us in our busy lives. Most of the coursework can be completed entirely at the learner's own pace.

Ordination/Non-Ordination Requirements
For anyone interested in training for eventual ordination, take a look at all the requirements in the program and curriculum at the link above. Pastoral candidates need to complete the academic portion of study along with hands-on field ministry work and an ongoing schedule of spiritual mentoring and accountability with an effect pastor.

We believe that ordination is not something we do, but simply recognize has already taken place in a person's life. So, being in relationship with that life is critical to knowing whether a person should be ordained. The completion of the curriculum of the School should take between 1.5 and 2 years, and though it is a prerequisite, it's not a guarantee of ordination, which would require a unanimous vote of theeffect board. If you are interested in following an ordination track, email us to discuss.

For everyone else, the school is yours to make of it whatever you wish. You can be as involved and in-depth as you wish, pick areas of interest and leave the rest, and/or audit classes as they are offered and partake in as much directed study as possible. You can tailor the program to fit your needs.

Classes and Costs
We have several great teachers who will be offering courses at the school. Classes will be scheduled in short modules of generally 4 to 5 classes with directed study. The only costs we're projecting right now will be for the purchase of text books and possibly other class materials and paying for instructor time for each scheduled class, which will be minimal. More info on class costs soon.

See our midweek page for details on upcoming classes.

How to Begin
Read the program curriculum above and email us to talk about details and scheduling. Each learner can begin in any area of interest. Purchase either required or elective reading books and let us know where you're starting so we can talk about directed study. You don't need to wait for the scheduled class to begin reading on a subject--your independent study can commence with direction through your instructors as you go in advance of the actual classes. Classes will be scheduled beginning in May 2009, and email announcements of upcoming classes will go out to our enews list, so make sure you're on our enews list. Emailing us about your interest here will also put you on the enews list.

The course classes and curriculum outlines are subject to change as we go forward, and if you're interested in starting an elective for which there is no text listed, let me know, and we'll get that fleshed out right away. We will be recording each course, and audio mp3 files will be available here for any classes learners miss or wish to review.

If you have any questions, just email or call, and we'll talk. Thanks for your interest, and let the games begin!