The Journey exists to develop godly, visionary, missional leaders for Christ’s church through graduate level learning under the oversight of ACTS seminaries. Within the ACTS community, there has been an emerging vision to bring seminary to the Prairies. Many of us who love ACTS and the church of Jesus Christ, yet live east of the Rocky Mountains, have shared that vision. Out of this vision, The Journey was born.
Because it provides exclusively modular courses, and emphasizes learning within the context of ministry, The Journey does not offer some of the features usually associated with a seminary. There is no dedicated building, nor extensive library, nor resident faculty. Far from being a kind of retreat centre for detached spiritual learning, The Journey is more of a “huddle time” within spiritual engagement. Rather than seeing our lack of elaborate facilities as a detriment, we see The Journey as closer to the way Jesus did the equipping of His first followers.
Contact Information:
Dr. Ed Stuckey, Director
estuckey@journeycentre.ca
Some Unique Features of The Journey:
1. While adapted from existing ACTS courses, those offered by the Seminaries at the Centre will emphasize the following:
• Mentoring component – consistent input and interaction with a practitioner in ministry
• Missional / ecclesial emphasis – consistent consideration of the community of faith and how the course content strengthens our understanding of God’s purposes for the church and its healthy development.
• Theological-mindset development – cultivation of the skill of viewing issues from God’s perspective with a view to theological coherence, combined with learning how to distinguish the significant from the merely transient.
• In order to facilitate both learning in community and ongoing engagement in ministry, each student will be involved in both an affinity cohort and a specific mentored ministry. The ministry will normally be in the student’s own denominational context; the cohort will include members from across the denominations represented in the class.
2. In order to facilitate both learning in community and ongoing engagement in ministry, each student will be involved in both an affinity cohort and a specific mentored ministry. The ministry will normally be in the student’s own denominational context; the cohort will include members from across the denominations represented in the class.
3. Some essential learning outcomes for those who complete courses taught through The Journey Centre:
a) A high view of Scripture as our revealed source of content for life and ministry.
b) Familiarity with significant current literature on the subject material
c) Awareness of the significant historical literature on the subject material (ideally, through reading at least portions of original authors rather than summaries by others)
d) Appreciation of the relevance of this literature – biblical, historical and current – to the student’s own ministry setting.
d) Insight into the human participation in ministry as “fellow workers with God” (1 Cor 3:9), through interaction with a mentor who is presently doing ministry.
e) Enhanced interpersonal and learning skills through interaction with a cohort of fellow students about issues raised by the course.
f) Appreciative regard for one’s own denominational heritage, people, and ethos.
g) When appropriate, immediate application, during the course period, of some aspect of the course content in a local ministry activity or project.
4. Instructors will incorporate the following general expectations from students in order to accomplish these learning outcomes:
• Reading and interacting with significant biblical and current literature on the subject material.
• Completion of one or more assignments which require the student to interact in depth with the relevant literature – biblical, historical and current – and relate its implications to the student’s own ministry setting
• Interaction about the issues raised by the course content with a local mentor who is presently doing ministry within the student’s own denominational context.
• Consideration of the practical implications of these issues for the student’s own ministry task and the broader mission of the church
About ACTS Seminaries, Langley BC
In 1985, several denominations began discussing how they could partner together to prepare visionary Christian leaders to meet the needs of our changing world. Out of these discussions, ACTS Seminaries was born. This exciting spirit of Christian unity, love and entrepreneurial innovation is still alive at ACTS today. As a consortium of denominationally associated schools, ACTS has uniquely modeled both Christian co-operation and combining sound theology with ministry practice.
From the beginning, ACTS has endeavored to create a dynamic, integrated learning environment where students can:
o Grow personally
o Be equipped with sound theology
o Refine their ministry skills through hands-on experience
o Learn through community to lead with vision
o Network with other developing and established ministry leaders
o Establish mentoring relationships between professors and students and between students and their peers.
The Journey shares these commitments, and with its ACTS partners, is similarly dedicated to preparing visionary leaders in a mentoring environment.