The Lay Theological Education Program and its courses are designed in conjunction with our partner denominations with their needs for training leadership in mind. While it is called something different by different churches, many Christian communions have training programs for individuals interested in being officially recognized as a lay leader. Whether your church calls it “commissioned pastor,” “preaching elder,” “deacons program,” “lay pastor,” or “commissioned minister,” or something else, our courses and three year program outline are accepted by our sponsor denominations another others as a valid avenue toward being officially recognized. Speak to your denominational/church representative for more information. We do not certify, commission, or grant Continuing Education Units. We offer our courses in partnership with several denominations. Denominations and churches are the ones who give the certification, commissioning, and grant continuing education units based on our reporting to them students’ completion of our courses in conjunction with any other requirements they maintain.

The idea of the full Lay Theological Education Program is to give participants a wide range of useful and necessary theological education over a three year time period. This includes nine core courses, which are 20 hours of intense learning. We also offer enrichment courses that vary in length and topic. Each denomination has different guidelines as to which of our courses they require and which are merely recommended. Please see the graph below for the current line-up of Lay Theological Education Program courses that are being offered and will be offered for the next three years. Remember, all interested persons are welcome to attend any course.