The Cross Church School of Ministry is a one-year residential ministry experience that prepares leaders for life, ministry, and Gospel advancement globally.

Since the early years of Dr. Ronnie Floyd’s 31-year tenure as pastor of Cross Church, we have invested in hundreds of young men and women who are now impacting the Kingdom of God all around the globe. God has granted Cross Church enormous favor and so, nearly a decade ago, Pastor Floyd began to dream and envision something more. The question at hand was, “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? In the summer of 2012, Pastor Floyd announced to the ministry staff team of Cross Church that he believed 2013 would be the year God would put structure and systems to what He had been doing at Cross Church for years; raising up and sending out next generation leaders in ministry.

February 1, 2013, saw the birth of the Cross Church School of Ministry as Dr. Crawford began his tenure as president. The vision had become reality. The first class of students arrived in August of 2013, and only God knows the heights to which we will be called to soar.

The purpose of the School of Ministry is not to replace what our universities and seminaries do by way of theological education but to complement them. 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. School of Ministry graduates will understand local church ministry—this will alter the way they live, lead, and extend the Gospel throughout their lifetime.

What the Cross Church School of Ministry Experience gets you:

• On-the-job experience at one of Outreach Magazine’s largest and fastest growing churches in America
• Customized ministry tracking
• Credit hours to apply toward your degree
• One-day-a-week, Oxford-style learning environment
• Personal mentorship by a Cross Church ministry faculty member
• Two national mission experiences
• One international mission experience
• Exposure to the multi-site movement of Cross Church Northwest Arkansas
• Access to the Cross Church network for the remainder of your ministry years

The Cross Church School of Ministry is designed to offer you a true-to-life ministry experience for one-year that goes far above and beyond any internship. You will effectively be functioning as another staff person of Cross Church under the mentorship of a seasoned Cross Church minister. You will attend upper level staff meetings, deal with budget issues, develop and do ministry in context, etc. And if you mess up and fall, you will have a safety net – something you would not have if you were out on your own. Our goal is to get you into full-time vocational ministry, but not until you are ready. And getting ready means one year with us!