Ministry Leadership Certificate Courses
CERTIFICATE PROGRAM COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
BIB 500 – Getting Our Story Straight (Survey of the Old Testament)
This course is an overview of the contents of the Bible as seen through the motif of the mission of God. Students explore background information necessary to convey the story that holds the Bible together. While the course does not presuppose knowledge of the Bible, those wanting to hear the story again will benefit.
BIB 501 – Survey of the New Testament
The course introduces the students to historic, geographical, and cultural background information of the New Testament, specific to concepts, ideas, and theology. In days when preaching and teaching of the Word is becoming more focused on modern, rather than contextualized application, it is crucial to go back to the roots and see some key tenets of the New Testament through the prism of the 1 century AD. The course will employ a variety of sources from Early Christianity, and 1st Century Judaism to study the New Testament.
BIB 503 – Life and Teachings of Christ
Students come to know Jesus' purpose and significance by studying the major events and movements of His life as presented in the four gospels. Confidence in the gospels as historical resources is also attained.
BIB 504 – Acts Alive
“Acts Alive” is a short course on the Luke’s second volume, the Book of Acts. This course will focus on the main storyline of Acts with particular attention to Luke’s purpose in writing Acts as shown through his major themes. The professor will stress that at its core, Acts is a missional document that invites the church of all ages deeper into God’s mission.
BIB 505 – Pastoral Epistles
In the exegetical treatment and modern application of Paul’s letters to the evangelists, Timothy and Titus, students confront the modern challenges and the biblical design of the work of an evangelist.
BIB 506 – Introduction to the Bible
This course is an introductory study of the Bible. The sixty-six books of the Bible are set in chronological order and correlated with the corresponding periods of biblical history. Included in the study will be a brief analysis of each book, noting the theme, historical development, personalities, main events, and progression of the redemptive system.
BIB 507 – Greek Tools for Bible Study
Greek Tools For Bible Study is designed to prepare preachers, teachers and leaders with limited or no foundational knowledge of the original languages. This class will focus on giving you a basic understanding of the Greek language, and is geared more towards giving you a working knowledge of the tools that can help you go deeper into the meaning of Scripture.
CHL 500 – Foundations of Biblical Leadership
This course will provide an integrated analysis of Biblical leadership. The understanding of Biblical leadership is vital to being an effective leader in a Church or in any faith based organization. Students will build this understanding on a biblical foundation of leadership. Students will focus on Biblical leadership while incorporating subjects such as communication, mission, vision, values, best practices, future/developing models, measurement, staff development, contextualization, strategic mapping, and administration.
CHL 501 – Missional Leadership (Dynamics of Servant Leadership)
This course explores how servant leadership, even recognized in the business world, supports any understanding of legitimate power in the context of the Kingdom of God. Further, this class will explore how servant leadership is the basis of all missional leadership.
CHL 502 – Developing Local Church Leadership
This is a practical seminar, involving a lot of interaction and participation. The purpose of this seminar is to implement Biblical strategies for local church leadership development. Each church is different in its own way, but the leadership must be set in such a way that it helps the church grow and impact people in the community. The leadership of a local congregation plays a vital role, thus the seminar will look at biblical models of leadership and examine how they are implemented in churches in the US.
CHL 506 – Transformational Leadership
Social and business environments are constantly changing, and with constant changes new challenges surface. Transformational leaders help organizations or communities navigate through the change process. Students examine organizational leadership in the context of managing continuous change, innovation, and adaptation. Topics include models and theories of leadership and change management; behavior of individuals and teams in organizations; and communicating strategic intent.
CHL 507 – Value Based Leadership
Leadership can be both beneficial and destructive. The authority that God gives to just a few people to lead weighs heavily on the shoulders of those who carry it, whether they realize that or not. What are the guidelines that should be foundational for any leader? At what point are the guidelines needed? Why is it important to reinforce values and morale for the leadership? What part does such reinforcement play on the culture and ethos of leadership? What leadership are we cultivating today – in our families, churches, communities? This seminar will discuss Christian values as the foundation and guidelines that each leader must have.