The Cross Church School of Ministry

The Cross Church School of Ministry

A series on who we are, what we do, and why we do it

Part 2- Who is the Cross Church School of Ministry?

When I first heard about the Cross Church School of Ministry I was sifting through my Twitter feed and stumbled upon something that my friend Nick Floyd, pastor of Cross Church Fayetteville, had tweeted about a new ministry being put together by his father, Ronnie Floyd, Senior Pastor of Cross Church, and Jeff Crawford, former pastor of Grand Avenue Baptist Church of Fort Smith. What I came across intrigued me and almost instantaneously I replied to Nick and he directed me to contact Jeff Crawford about what was all going on. Two days after I had initially seen any information about the Cross Church School of Ministry I was meeting with the president of the school, who turned out to be Jeff, and I was listening to a vision that spoke to my very heart and soul. I came to see who the Cross Church School of Ministry is, and it's with that thought I'd like to share with you who we are and how we can totally and completely excel your ministry trajectory and equip you with the tools and skills that most seminaries are lacking in teaching the called men and women of God.

The Cross Church School of Ministry is a one-year residential ministry opportunity that will prepare you for life in ministry, life in your home, and living a life committed to the Gospel advancement worldwide. This is not something that replaces seminary education or undercuts it in any way shape or form, but it supplements it and expedites your ministry opportunities and launches your ministry trajectory to new heights. The Cross Church School of Ministry couples you with well trained, experienced, and tenured ministry leaders across all facets of ministry in a church where a mentorship can occur and thus hands on ministry experience. The vision Pastor Floyd had for the school began almost a decade ago when he began to ask the question "If God has used Cross Church to impact and send out so many when this was not necessarily our focus, what if we made it our focus? In short- what if we became intentional about raising up, training, and sending out leaders?" The summer of 2012 was the time for this vision to begin to take shape. Pastor Floyd recruited Dr. Jeff Crawford to head up the school as president, he began to formulate partnerships with several seminaries and Bible colleges, and missionary sending agencies, and by late spring of 2013 the Cross Church School of Ministry was being talked about in thousands of Southern Baptist churches not only nation wide, but world wide.

Upon learning of some of these details in late February I was instantly hooked so to speak. I had originally planned on attending The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary this fall, but God had something far better planned for my life. It took me less than two days of prayer and asking guidance from mentors that this is what God intended for me to do, and after those two days I called Dr. Crawford and told him I was sold out for the Cross Church School of Ministry. I was all in. Some people might question why I put all my chips into this one hand, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was doing and would continue to do amazing things with Cross Church under the leadership of Pastor Floyd. I knew God had a place for me there.

All this being said I know several people are asking how can I become involved? How can I send students there? How can I be in the school myself? Am I over-qualified if I have a college degree or even an M.Div from a seminary already? The answers to all those questions is a simple one best answered in this way: "The School of ministry will provide a unique opportunity for any young man or woman called to ministry and Kingdom service to gain practical ministry experience in the Cross Church setting. Students will come to the School of Ministry pre-college, during college, post college, pre-seminary, mid or post-seminary, or whenever in ministry to have classroom, mentorship and hands-on experiences preparing them as leaders for life, ministry, and Gospel advancement globally"(Taken from the School of Ministry website at http://www.crosschurchschool.com/ ) In short it doesn't matter whether you are 18 or 24 or 50 you still can learn, and you still can be a part of what God is doing here at Cross Church.

Please visit our website and listen to the countless videos and read through the blog post of our students to get a first hand account of what we are about. I pray that God does a great work in your life no matter what season of life or ministry you are in, I hope to hear from you soon and tell you more about what God is doing in my life, and in the life of the Cross Church School of Ministry.


God bless,


James

The Cross Church School of Ministry

The Cross Church School of Ministry

A series on who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

Part 1-Why I chose The Cross Church School of Ministry

 

People in all areas of my life keep asking me this one question. Why? Why spend a year with Cross Church and not go straight into seminary or the mission field? I responded of course with “Why not?”. Why not give my life over to a multiplying, disciple making, Holy Spirit driven, Great Commission bound, Gospel preaching church? The Cross Church School of Ministry serves not to replace seminary, but to compliment the academic training a person receives with real life ministry instruction from a staff that has extensive ministerial experience led by a man who has the vision to change the world through the preaching and proclamation of the Gospel through equipping and sending men and women out to plant churches. I chose this route because I was called quite literally to become a part of it. I was introduced to it and fell in love with it on the very front end because I saw the vision God had lain upon Pastor Ronnie Floyd’s heart and knew that this was something that was essential for the success of my ministry and future church plant. My calling to this school was confirmed almost instantaneously by several mentors and men in my life. Men like Dr. Lynn Loyd, former Director of the University of Arkansas’s Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Dr. Nick Floyd, Campus Pastor of Cross Church Fayetteville, Steve Moore, Connections Pastor of Grand Ave. Baptist Church in Fort Smith Arkansas, and Brad Carr, current Director of the Baptist Student Union at Central Missouri University; all of whom have mentored me and played a huge role in my life in some capacity since coming to Arkansas 6 years ago as a college freshman. All of whom which told me that this was meant for me, that this is why God had called me to Fayetteville in the first place, and that this experience of a lifetime would forever transform my ministry trajectory. Needless to say I was sold on the spot and have known from the get go that God would do an amazing work through CCSM in my life this year. I have complete confidence and faith that God is already calling men and women to be a part of the next cohort of students for next years class, and I urge you to pray about and consider two things: “Am I called?” and “What am I called to do?”. If you can discern those two things and know without a shadow of a doubt that your life is meant to glorify God through Kingdom work then join us at The Cross Church School of Ministry. Your very life and the lives of the people you minister to may depend on it.

 

God bless,

 

James

Back to the grind!

Hey y'all! I am back at it! I had to take off from writing for a while due to different things going on in my life, but now that my year at Cross Church Springdale is officially kicking off this Sunday I thought it would be good to ease back into writing again and get ready for the weekly updates that I'll be posting every Friday as this year goes on. This summer has been super busy and enlightening and God has definitely revealed himself to me in so many ways. I want to thank you for praying for me if you have and ask you to continue to pray as I start work on Sunday and officially start seminary this coming Monday. It will be an awesome and Holy Spirit filled year, and I am excited to see how God changes me, molds me, and directs me. I will fill you all in on something that has been heavily weighing upon my heart this whole summer. Next year after my year with Cross Church I feel God is leading me to pack up and move to Boston, MA and begin preparations to plant a church there in the city or in its surrounding area. I've been in love with the city of Boston eversince I went there as a freshman in college during spring break and have felt God calling me to that city since then. I am excited and scared, grateful and in awe, but more so than all those feelings I am so amazed that God has chosen me and called me to do this great work for His Kingdom. I don't know all the specifics and I'm not sure at all how I will go about this, but I do know that my year at Cross Church will prepare me and my time with them spent as a North American Mission Board church planting apprentice will equip me with the tools and skills I need to plant in an unreached area in our country. Pray for me, pray for Cross Church, and pray that God does a great work not only in my life, but that He is magnified and glorified in all that is accomplished.

God bless,


James