Sending a pastoral candidate to traditional seminaries has some significant challenges. These often include graduating with a sizable debt, a lack of practical ministry experience, a disconnect from the local church, and a family exhausted from carrying a full time load at school and an outside job.
At Faith Bible Seminary (FBS) we are pioneering a new model that maintains traditional, academic excellence while addressing these challenges. FBS solves these challenges by partnering with strong local churches.
Be evangelical in nature, fundamental in faith. FBS teaches a curriculum based upon traditional fundamentals of the Christian faith. Systematic theology will be taught from a pre-millennial point of view. While we invite any evangelical church to participate, we understand that those of a Reformed background with different eschatological views, though evangelical and fundamental in faith, may not be interested. Each partnering church must submit a doctrinal statement with its application for partnership.
Have a man in your ministry that is a potential candidate for the pastorate and desires academic and practical training. FBS will not provide or recommend a student intern for any local church except FC.
Be willing to hire the potential pastoral candidate for a three-year period as a part-time intern. The pastoral candidate will be enrolled year-round in our low cost, part-time, traditional Master of Divinity degree program at FBS. With the remainder of his time he will serve your local church as a paid intern for three years.
Be willing to provide housing for this candidate for three years. So that the student is not required to work outside of his studies and the church environment, we ask that partnering churches provide not only a stipend, but housing as well. Please see the example benefit package for details on what FC is planning to provide for its interns. If your church decides to partner with FBS, you will be asked to put together a compensation package based upon the needs of your intern and the resources of your church.
Be willing to provide practical ministry training for this candidate for three years. The student intern will be functioning as a pastoral apprentice for three years. He should be given significant ministry experience that attempts to strike a balance among these priorities:
If your local church is interested in partnering with FBS, please fill out an application through the link below. Call Kirk Fatool, FBS Registrar, at (765) 448-1986 if you have any questions about the program.
If your local church decides to partner with FBS, you will be asked to put together a compensation package based upon the needs of your intern and the resources of your church. This information will be required on the Local Church Partnering Application Form.
Your local church should consider whether its students would be licensed to preach the gospel. This designation has implications as to whether the students would be considered “self-employed” (as many pastors are considered) or simply as employees of your local church. Faith Church does not license its interns. Faith Church students will be considered employees of Faith Church.
For a detailed example of a benefit package, please contact FBS (seminary@faithlafayette.org).
From raising up men in your own ministry who demonstrate a call to full-time ministry.
Due to the extended nature of the commitment (three years), FBS has determined that it would not be best to act as a “placement” service with these internships. There are many advantages to raising up your own intern: you and your church know the intern and his character, and if he meets the qualifications of an elder in 1 Timothy 3.
The local church who is sponsoring the intern provides the stipend for the three-year internship and the housing arrangements. FBS provides the free academic training.