The RMMN Ministry Enhancement Fund is investing funds in Pathway educational scholarships for certified and licensed ministers to finish their educational requirements to advance to the next level of credential within a one-year period. Because the General Council requires a person to be licensed for two years before applying for ordination, those who are seeking ordination through the scholarship can immediately seek advancement while getting their educational requirements out of the way now and apply for ordination the following year. The Network will also employ a remote Credential Specialist who will be exclusively assigned to scholarship recipients to coach them through the completion of their file and advancement application within that same year.

A.  Objective. To see 100 new ordained ministers in four years.

B.  Rational. This initiative makes sense for the following three reasons:

1. Strategic alignment. This initiative is strategically aligned with the original intent and purpose of the ministry enrichment fund which is to invest in our ministers and their ministry effectiveness.
2. Good stewardship. This initiative is one of the most cost-effective ways to employ funds designated for ministry enrichment.
3. True value. This initiative brings tremendous value to the grass-roots level of the people and churches we exist to serve.

C.  Benefits.  This initiative has several benefits to participants and the Network.

Benefits to Participants.

• Personal growth as a learning leader.
• Greater credibility with laity, peers, and ministry supervisors.
• Increased ministry opportunities, promotion, and remuneration.
• Formal endorsement with the Assemblies of God.
• Leadership potential as most lead pastorates and elected positions within the Assemblies of God require ordination.
• Spiritual growth and a more in-depth understanding of the scriptures.
• Additional benefits like the Trinity Ordination Scholarship allowing recipients to receive a 50% discount in graduate studies.

Benefits to the Network.

• Rewarding those who have already exhibited the diligence, commitment, and sacrifice to achieve the first two levels of credentials (certified and licensed).
• Empowering our ministers by investing in their theological education, increasing their ministry effectiveness, and providing greater opportunities for ministry advancement.
• Assisting our churches by deepening their minister's theological education, increasing their ministry effectiveness, and facilitating doctrinal purity.
• Strengthening the Network by increasing the number of advancing ministers, lengthening our leadership pipeline, and increasing our pool of mentors.

D.  Strategy.  The following strategy will be executed:

1. Feasibility study. A 2022 online survey of RMMN licensed ministers surveying their interest, time, commitment, and ministry margin revealed outstanding interest in this beta group. The first year also resulted in several ministers advancing to ordination.
2. Pathway partnership. Pathway (https://pathway.training), will be our exclusive educational partner in this initiative. Pathway is the newest innovation in online ministerial training and credential advancement. The Rocky Mountain Ministry Network has established a formal partnership with Pathway that we believe has tremendous potential. Pathway was created as just that—a pathway to get both a formal biblical education and an Assemblies of God credential at the same time. They are a “Church-Based Bible Institute” that has been approved by The General Council of the Assemblies of God. The bible training they provide will give you a great education while also fulfilling the educational requirements needed to apply for all three levels of credentialing with the Assemblies of God (certified, licensed, and ordained). The following characteristics make it uniquely user friendly:

• Fully online. All their courses and materials are online. This means you do not need to buy, order, or ship books. All you need is accessibility from your computer or smartphone.
• App-based. Once you register for your subscription through the Pathway website, you can then use the platform through Pathway’s app. Their app will then enable you to access your courses anywhere and anytime. That means you do not need to learn complicated educational technology platforms like Blackboard or Moodle. To access the app, just search for “Pathway Training” in your app store.
• Self-paced. You can progress as quickly as you like. There are no due dates or completion windows for any assignments, and you may take as long as you want in any course. That means no long waits for annual class rotations, inconvenient meeting times, or inconsistent class schedules.
• Subscription based. A scholarship subscription will give you access to their entire catalog. This makes all credentialing courses and electives available to you.
• Credit mobility. Because Pathway has partnered with Assemblies of God universities, you can continue your studies and transfer over more than a full year’s worth of credits to a partnering university.
• Gamified experience. Earn points and badges to level up as you progress through the courses. Check the leaderboard to see how you match up to your friends.

The Network will purchase subscriptions and assign login and passwords to participants. Pathway will also give the Advance Credential Specialist access to their administrative dashboard to monitor participants progress.

3.

Funding. The Ministry Enhancement Fund will fund Pathway educational scholarships for certified and licensed ministers to complete their educational requirements for the next level of credential within a one-year period. The Network will also employ a remote Credential Specialist who will be exclusively assigned to coach scholarship recipients through the completion of their file, provide additional accountability and compile the application to the next level of credential.

4.

Selection of applicants. All certified and licensed ministers will be invited to apply for the Advancement Scholarship through an online application that must be completed for consideration. An intuitive online application will be used to usher applicants through a series of questions that will help us learn more about their future ministry goals, sense of ownership and compatibility with the Pathway learning model. This assessment also gives each applicant a compatibility score to help the Network determine and coach recipients of the scholarship each year. The program will be limited toIndividuals who already have been certified or licensed and require additional classes through Pathway to advance to the next level of credential. It will not include those who are transferring an ordination from another organization or who can or desire to use life experience to fulfill any ordination educational requirements. In these cases, the individual will be released from the scholarship program and referred to our normal credentialing office. The online application can be accessed at the link at the end of this page. 

5.

Ordination credential specialist.  To ensure the success of this initiative, the Network will contract a part-time credential specialist who will be assigned by the Superintendent to ministers receiving the Pathway scholarships. Pathway gives our Advance Scholarship Credential Specialist (ASCS) access to their admin dashboard to monitor the real time progress and student records of our scholarship recipients. This will provide extra accountability to help us better coach our RMMN students involved in the Advance Scholarship.

Elaine Jones is an ordained minister with the Northwest Ministry Network where she previously worked as the Credentials Specialist from 2018-2021. The Northwest Ministry Network has over 350 churches and 1400 ministers. While Elaine served as the Credentials Specialist, she helped gain credentials for over 200 ministers (around 60/year) while also overseeing the credential renewal season for the 1400 ministers/year. Elaine is currently on staff at Redmond Assembly of God as the Executive Pastor, serving alongside her husband, Brandon, who is the lead pastor. She can be reached at ejones@rmdc.org. 

Rationale.  Employing an external ordination credential specialist will prevent the Secretary/Treasurer's office from being overwhelmed with the many tasks associated with the Advance Fund's scholarship applicants. It will also provide the participants with a “coach" to walk them through the process.

Responsibilities.  The Advance ordination credential specialist will only interact with those accepted into the program and who already possess a ministerial license. They will:

• Perform the educational audits necessary to determine what classes each participant will need to pass in order to be ordained. 
• Master the policies, procedures, and deadlines associated with the licensed and ordination track.
• Serve as the Network’s liaison to the Pathway scholarship recipients. 
• Monitor the progress of each participant on the Pathway and General Council dashboard to ensure they finish the ordination educational track within 12 months. 
• Contact the recipients monthly via email to help them set goals and encourage, resource, and advise them. 
• Inform the Superintendent of any participants that may need encouragement from their local presbyter to reengage in their studies. 
• Record and build the candidates ordination file and upload the necessary documents to a shared Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive.
• Approve the completion of the file with supporting documentation and then refer that file to the RMMN credentialing office. Once the file is confirmed as ready, the RMMN credentialing office will oversee the rest of the process.