Author: Dr. Jerome Scripture, Director of Online Learning, Maritime Christian College
In a recent survey of 400 churches in America conducted for Christian Standard Magazine, the top three concerns of church leaders were:
Discipleship - making disciples who make disciples
Evangelism - reaching the lost and sharing our faith
Leadership development – the need for new, more, and younger leaders[1]
Many church leaders and individual believers recognize why disciple making needs to be a priority – it is an element that is not being done with intentionality and focus in most churches. But the next challenge is to understand how to equip individuals and church leaders to be disciple makers.
Do you want to accelerate your education so you can be a better disciple maker and ministry leader expert? Look no further. Maritime Christian College (MCC) has exactly what you are looking for. MCC is pioneering accelerated Christian education programs that equips churches and leaders with the knowledge and practical application of making disciples. As Jesus commanded “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [2]. Our mission at MCC is to come alongside churches around the world to help train and equip disciples to make disciples.
We are pioneering accelerated Christian education with our exceptional Disciple-Making Church Leadership (https://www.mccpei.com/disciple-making-church-leadership) and Youth Disciple-Making Ministry (https://www.mccpei.com/youth-disciple-making-ministry) five-course series certification programs.
The Disciple Making Church Leadership certification program is designed for leadership teams who are seeking to make a shift towards making disciple makers as well as the leadership of new churches.
It includes the following courses:
Introduction to healthy leadership
Biblical foundation for healthy leadership
Intentional leaders become healthy leaders
Building healthy relational environments
Healthy leaders reproduce healthy leadership
You will learn:
Only a healthy leader can effectively guide a church to live out Christ’s methods and message of the great commission.
You will put into practice theological principles that build a strong foundation so that you can lead a disciple making movement that is sustainable and reproduceable in your local church.
You will learn to become more intentional with you they do in the life of ministry. A deep dive into “Disciple making is not what you do but who you are”.
You will examine and learn how a healthy relational environment impacts not only disciple making but the church as a whole. Essential attributes and skills will be taught and applied as students learn to model and live out healthy relational environments.
You will learn to apply healthy disciple making principles so that a movement of discipleship can be reproduced in future generations.
The Youth Disciple Making Ministry certification program is designed for leaders that serve in youth ministry or seek to become a youth pastor.
It includes the following courses:
Preparing to launch
Laying the ground work
Intentional leadership
Healthy environments for healthy growth
Launching world changers
You will learn:
The cornerstones of a biblical foundation, becoming and intentional leader, creating relational environments and building a reproducible process will be introduced.
During the course a strong biblical foundation will be established and then applied to creating a disciple making movement.
You will establish the tools necessary to build a much more intentional youth ministry that raises up not only volunteers but students that can go and intentionally make disciples.
A deep understanding of how a relational environment is critical to the process of disciple making and being a disciple is “not what you do but who you are”. The student will learn how to establish this environment and connect youth to God and each other in a life changing way.
You will learn how to launch students into the world as intentional disciple makers.
Maritime Christian College also offers an innovative Master’s Degree in Disciple Making and Ministry Leadership that will accelerate your ministry in fulfilling the Great Commission.
Our 36-credit hour M.A. degree in Disciple Making and Ministry Leadership can be completed in two years by taking two courses per semester. You also have the option to take courses part-time as they fit your life schedule.
What you will learn from this master’s level program include:
Foundational theology from world-class disciple makers on how to become a disciple who makes disciples.
How to use the message and methods of Jesus to Learn and apply Jesus’ model of intentional leadership in your own life as a disciple maker.
Insights and cutting-edge practical application on how to build unified ministry leadership teams with a healthy culture focused on making disciples.
How to engage cultural issues facing the church in these precarious times.
Careers where this MA degree will benefit you:
Ministerial Leader
Church Programs Director
Children, Youth or Young Adult Pastor
Christian Educator
Church Planter / Disciple Maker
Pastor
Campus Pastor
Executive Pastor of Discipleship
At MCC, we realize that as an adult with responsibilities, you cannot put your life on hold to go back to school. We provide a flexible, affordable way for working professionals to earn a Master’s Degree or real-life practical discipleship certification that is designed to fit into your busy life. With online learning, you save precious time and money by not driving to campus for classes. Plus, you get to study in the comfort of your own home.
We allow you the flexibility to choose your program of study depending on your schedule and budget. You can take two courses as a full-time student, or one course as a part-time student. The more classes you take, the faster you’ll finish. We will work with you to develop an individualized structured graduation path that fits your ministry goals and life schedule. This “any time, any where” asynchronous format supports MCC’s goal of providing accelerated Christian education focused around disciple making.
As a student of MCC, you will never feel that you are working alone. You will be part of our world-wide disciple-making team. We have student advisors that are available to answer any questions you may have from enrollment through graduation. In your courses, you will be working with a faculty member who’s interreacting with you in a discussion board forum, who’s setting up virtual meetings, and assessing the work that you’ve done.
We realize that your time is valuable and want to provide accelerated Christian education to support your discipleship ministry as quickly as possible. The best way to do that is to learn from our expert faculty. We offer live online virtual class meetings twice per semester so that you get to develop a relationship with your peers and faculty. Every week, you will chat with other students in your courses through message-board discussions. You will be asking questions and gain different perspectives while networking with like-minded Christians and disciple makers from around the world, while broadening your own views on ministry leadership and discipleship. There’s no daily login requirement, which means you decide when to study, but weekly assessment deadlines will ensure that you review the materials, understand and apply a topic, along with developing consistent study habits. Every assignment has a specific purpose so that you gain not only knowledge, but apply your learning while making an impact in your own local community. You are not tested on how well you memorize facts, but how well you apply your knowledge of key competencies in your community. The final semester of the MA program will allow you an opportunity complete a capstone project while applying all that you have learned throughout the program in your local church and community.
Our practical application-based programs are designed by disciple making experts and ministry leaders from throughout the world so that you can learn the most sought-after skills to fulfill the Great Commission. To create our accelerated Christian education curriculum, we consult with ministry leaders from organizations such as Renew.org, Real Life Ministries Texas and Discipleship.org. All of our curriculum developers are experienced disciple makers and ministry leaders from whom you will gain valuable practical skills to accelerate your ministry growth. You will expand your discipling network and develop lifelong friendships with faculty and peers.
At MCC, we place a premium on curricula development. Each course developed follows a stringent process to ensure that it meets our exceptionally high standards. We focus our course development on how a student will be able to contribute to their local community as a disciple maker and ministry leader throughout and following course completion. With our instructional design expert and knowledgeable faulty, the courses meet our quality standards before they are taught. We also value student and faculty feedback during and after each course. Student and faculty feedback provide valuable information and adjustments are made as needed.
In order to instruct online, our faculty all go through a designed training process before they are allowed to teach. Our goal is for the faculty to respond to any questions you have in an expedient fashion because we know questions will arise and response time is important. We recognize that grading of papers and timely feedback is imperative for student success.
At MCC, we are serious about providing accelerated Christian education for disciple makers, and you will find the highest quality curricula, faculty, and support to meet your schedule and ministry needs. Our staff of disciple makers and ministry leaders are ready to welcome you to the world of fulfilling the Great Commission.
Take your next step…
Discover our Programs at https://www.mccpei.com/programs
Get connected with one of our advisors by emailing info@mccpei.com
[1] Christian Standard Magazine, May-June 2022 issue, https://christianstandard.com/2022/05/may-june-2022/ page 32
[2] Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV (online)