Archive for the 'School of Ministry' Category
Our Cross Church School of Ministry is Ready for You to Come Spend One Year With Us
The Cross Church School of Ministry is a one-year residential ministry experience that prepares leaders for life, ministry, and Gospel advancement globally. In August of this year, we will begin our fifth cohort of ministry residents. Whether you are looking to be equipped for ministry leadership or assisted in navigating your call to vocational ministry, the Cross Church School of Ministry is the place for you!
Not an Internship, but Ministry Residency
This is not an internship, but is a combination of hands-on ministry training and mentorship. Each cohort experiences two national mission trips and one international mission experience. Additionally, we have taken each cohort to learn from and experience the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.
We have sixteen partnerships with academic institutions that grant either undergraduate or graduate hours if the student so desires to earn them. For example, you could earn as much as twenty-one hours toward your Master of Divinity degree by attending the Cross Church School of Ministry for one year. This program is like no other. You can work with us in creating your ministry track of study and concentration.
We do not compete with academic institutions, but complement what they do. We do what they cannot do and they do what we choose not to do. We are a local church; they are an academic institution. Yet, any innovative academic institution that is based upon Christian principles and equips God-called persons for ministry wants and desires a close partnership with local churches. We cherish these partnerships.
You can be just out of high school, in the midst of your collegiate degree or post-bachelor’s degree, in the middle of your Master of Divinity degree or you may have completed your Master’s degree. Come here, spend one year with us, earn as much as twenty-one hours of academic credit, and if you graduate from our program, you will also have one year of experience on a large multi-campus church.
Look What God Has Done in Almost Four Years
When August 2017 comes, we will have completed our fourth year in the Cross Church School of Ministry. In this experience the past four years, we will have equipped and sent out 64 graduates into gospel ministry. Of these 64 graduates, 14 are now serving on our own Cross Church team. Additionally, these 64 graduates will have experienced international mission trips to places like Venezuela, Tanzania, Malawi, and Haiti, and domestic mission trips to places like Portland, Maine, New York City, Washington, DC, Seattle, Washington, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Columbus, Ohio, Spearfish, South Dakota, St. Louis, Missouri, and Detroit, Michigan. Additionally, these graduates will have attended the annual Southern Baptist Conventions either in Baltimore, Maryland, Columbus, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, or Phoenix, Arizona. We have also licensed 26 men to gospel ministry over these past four years.
Our graduates are now serving on church staff teams, as lead pastors, church planters, on the mission fields around the world, or continuing to pursue their post-graduate degrees. Yes, read carefully: We are serious about your one-year ministry residency that prepares you for life, leadership, and gospel advancement globally.
Now is the Time to Consider Coming Here
We are currently accepting applications for our upcoming 2017 class. Our next cohort will be joining us in August. Apply online today at CrossChurchSchool.com. If you are interested in learning more about the Cross Church School Of Ministry, please email Dave Kinney at Davek@crosschurch.com
Recently, our President for the past four years, Dr. Jeff Crawford, was called to serve as Senior Pastor of the Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. We have asked Dave Kinney to step in during our interim search to coordinate logistics for our school. He was in the first cohort of our Cross Church School of Ministry after changing his future plans from medical school to the ministry. After graduation from our school, he joined our team full-time, completed his Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is leading one of our campuses. He is doing an outstanding job and we are thankful for him stepping up to lead the School of Ministry during this interim period.
Pray for Us and We are Praying for You to Join Us or Send Someone
We are in an active search for the next President of our Cross Church School of Ministry. Please pray for us to know who that next leader needs to be. This does not need to deter you in enrolling this fall, because our entire team invests in our cohort, including myself. You will be assigned to work with one of our Ministry Team members specifically to prepare you for your future ministry in the ministry track you choose. Again, reach out immediately to Dave Kinney at Davek@crosschurch.com to find out more about this outstanding ministry resident school that has now proven: We prepare leaders for life, ministry, and gospel advancement globally.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the Senior Pastor of Cross Church, founder of the Cross Church School of Ministry, and host of the Ronnie Floyd on Life and Leadership Today podcast.
To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.
Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
One-Year Ministry Residency at Cross Church
How many could have saved their ministries if they had spent one year as a ministry resident on a church’s Ministry Team before they journeyed into the choppy waters of the local church? Ministers do not usually lose their ministry due to poor theology or questionable morality. They lose their ministry because they do not know how to relate to and lead people.
Would you want a surgeon to operate on your brain or a lawyer to defend you if they never had any on-hands experience under the supervision of someone more prepared than them? Interestingly, we regularly send God-called men and women into the local church without any local church experience.
A Ministry Track Will Be Customized with You
Join us for a one-year ministry residency at Cross Church and serve on our Ministry Team. Whatever you sense your calling to be in ministry, we customize a ministry track with you, placing you with an experienced mentor in ministry. You will not just hear about or watch ministry, you will lead and do ministry.
Single and Married Men and Women Are Welcome
We are in our third year at Cross Church School of Ministry. We have been privileged to mentor single and married men and women, and we are committed to equipping people of all ages. A few have come just out of high school, but most have come to us midstream or following college or seminary experiences. Anyone can apply, but not everyone is selected. Dr. Jeff Crawford, our President, determines who is admitted into our Cross Church School of Ministry.
Earn Hours of Credit for Your Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree
Our Cross Church School of Ministry partners with 14 colleges and seminaries and can help you gain academic hours during your time here. You can earn as many as 21 hours for being part of our one-year ministry residency. You can see a list of our academic partners here. You do not have to feel like you are losing a year of education. In fact, if you spend a year with us, you will accelerate your ministry.
The Cross Church School of Ministry is complimentary to academic education, not in competition with it. We can do what they are not able to do in providing a unique local church experience for an entire year. I believe we can help you navigate your calling in ministry and prepare you for life, leadership, and gospel advancement globally. By the way, if you have no interest in earning any academic hours, that is fine with us.
Our Cross Church Family Will Love You
You will be part of a wonderful and exciting church, Cross Church. Our church believes in preparing the next generation of God-called leaders, and they will become your support and family. You will become part of our family. Not just while you are here, but even after your time here is finished.
Our Cross Church Family overflows with joy when they know one of our School of Ministry graduates returns to complete their education, goes to the mission field, plants a church, serves on a church staff team, pastors a church, or is hired as a long-term ministry staff team member here.
Come join us in August at the Cross Church School of Ministry. Your life and ministry will never be the same.
Now is the Time to Lead,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.