Our Vision

The New Covenant School of Theology (NCST) exists to exalt the Lord Jesus by teaching Christians how to think and live in the New Covenant.

Method

Specifically, by Gods enabling grace, we will achieve our goals by:

Teaching Christians how to interpret the Bible with a Christ-centered hermeneutic (Luke 24:44f).
Preparing pastors for ministry through vigorous biblical study and leadership training in an apprenticeship model.
Training and equipping church leadersincluding elders and ministry leaders (ex. women's ministry, evangelism/missions ministry)for service in the local church.
Providing biblical instruction for all Christians at a deeper level than the typical Sunday School.

Learning at Church

At NCST, we believe that the training of church leaders is more effective when students are heavily involved in the ministry of the local church during the formal educating process. Furthermore, we believe that the local church is the ideal place for ministers to be equipped. This is not to degrade campus-oriented colleges, universities, seminaries, and the like, but we are persuaded that they are no substitute for well-done training in the midst of everyday church life. Therefore, students of NCST study in the context of real church ministry, which we consider to be a significant advantage over the typical educational setting.

Educational Degrees & Endorsements

In addition to the traditional degree designation (M.Div.) given to express a student?s program completion, our graduates receive an endorsement corresponding to their course of study. For example, a man preparing for the pastoral or elder ministry will receive a Pastoral Endorsement or Elder Endorsement, respectively. ?Endorse? comes from the Latin word meaning [to write] on the back of. When a student receives an endorsement, it means that he has convinced the leaders of NCST of his readiness to serve in a ministry capacity. This endorsement does not come from a mere completion of classroom course work. Rather, he must show the necessary aptitudes, attitudes, gifts, and character traits for his desired kingdom service. Only when he has persuaded a group of overseers (made up of pastors and elders in the local church) of his fitness will he be officially endorsed.

NCST confers three endorsements: Pastoral Endorsement, Elder Endorsement, Ministry Leadership Endorsement. For those who do not desire an official endorsement, but who complete a theological course of study, we confer a Certificate of Biblical Studies. NCST does not ordain pastors or elders, nor do we call leaders of particular ministries such as missions, evangelism, Sunday school, etc. Those prerogatives belong to the local church. However, by endorsing a man or woman for ministry we hope to aid local churches in their search for leaders. Because we will only confer an endorsement to a person who has met our requirements for learning, gifting, and spiritual integrity, the interviewing church can be sure that a certain standard has been met by anyone who receives our endorsement. To put it another way, we will only endorse those whom we would be willing to install in leadership in our own churches.

When the situation arises that a person has pursued a particular endorsement but does not gain approval by NCST leadership, we will work with him or her to find areas of service suitable to their gifting. For example, if a pastoral student proves unfit for pastoral ministry because of weak leadership and teaching skills, we will help him work toward other ministry areas. He may have a passion for evangelism and possess abundant administrative skills. In such a case, we would move him from the pastoral track to the ministry leadership track and issue a Ministry Leadership Endorsement with a recommendation that he serve as a leader of an outreach or missions ministry. If he were to complete all of the academic work acceptably, we would confer upon him the M.Div., but not the Pastoral Endorsement.

Accreditation

NCST is not accredited, nor do we ever intend to be. We understand the value of peer appraisal and the potential dangers of unknown educational institutions. However, the technological age in which we live allows a prospective student to get an accurate and detailed picture of our ministry before deciding to enroll. The content of our teaching, beliefs, and philosophy is fully disclosed on our website.

Attending a non-accredited school does not automatically preclude a student from being accepted by accredited institutions later. We know of several M.Div. graduates from nonaccredited seminaries who have been received into the doctoral programs of larger, renowned, accredited schools. And there are many examples of students from non-accredited schools receiving calls to ministry. Certainly, we cannot guarantee such reception. But, we believe, accreditation should not be the ultimate determining factor in choosing a place to prepare for ministry.

Ultimately, of course, the best accreditation of any school is the quality of its graduates. We hope that by the grace of our merciful and powerful King, NCST will gain and maintain a robust reputation for equipping servants of diligent, effective, passion for Jesus Christ.

Block Courses (one class at a time)

The standard educational method consists of taking several simultaneous classes for a period of 13 weeks (more or less). While there may be good reasons for this approach, at NCST we come at it differently. Our classes are given one at a time over a period of a few weeks (usually 4). We meet weekly on Monday and Tuesday nights, 3-4 hours each night. This allows for several things:

A course can be completed in about one month, rather than four months.
All of the student?s time for reading, writing, etc., is devoted to one subject, rather than distributed across multiple subjects.
Students have five consecutive days to devote to their study.
Students are free to engage in church activities during other nights of the week.
Part-time (or full-time) jobs may be easier to maintain with this schedule.
We believe this to be an effective way to learn.

Ministry Experience for Leadership Students

For those seeking endorsements for pastoral, elder, or ministry leadership, NCST believes that classroom training alone is insufficient for producing good leaders. Therefore, our students will have the privilege of being required to engage in church ministry throughout their courses. For example, pastoral and elder students will have preaching and teaching opportunities which will be necessary for graduation. They will also be expected to participate in elder meetings, and will be mentored by elders and pastors. They will be included in staff leadership meetings, worship service planning, etc., to experience leadership life in a real church context. Ministry leadership students will work with existing church ministries and leaders to gain experience in their respective areas (such as women?s ministry, missions, evangelism, etc.) In some cases, a new ministry may be created by the student in order to gain practical experience in a particular area of service.

[NOTE: For students who live nearby NCST and who are already committed to a local church, we will work with that church to establish the required ministry experience. For students relocating to Colorado Springs, their primary place of ministry throughout their training will be at Front Range Alliance Church.]

Housing & Employment Opportunities

For full-time students relocating to Colorado Springs, we will work with you to find a place to live and a part-time job to help defray your expenses. [We cannot guarantee anything, but we will do all that we can to help.]

New Covenant Theology

The NCST adheres to what has come to be called New Covenant Theology (NCT). Put very simply, NCT affirms that the universe exists to glorify God through Jesus Christ. We believe the entire Scripture must be interpreted as the story of Jesus Christ rather than as the story of the kingdom of Israel or the story of God?s covenant of grace. While we love and appreciate our brothers who dwell in the camps of Reformed/Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism, we believe their hermeneutic is slightly off center.

Students are not required to affirm all of the tenets of NCT for admittance or graduation. However, they will be expected to understand NCT for graduation.

Teachers

The professors of NCST are Christians who have been examined and found to possess a sound biblical competence in terms of factual knowledge and theological understanding. However, intellectual capacity alone does not satisfy our requirements. We also look for evidence that the grace of the Gospel has done its good work. If our graduates exhibit academic prowess devoid of love and grace, we have failed to achieve our goal. And since we cannot give what we do not have, we must employ teachers who know Him intimately and who walk in His Spirit consistently.