Why become a

CHURCH HUB?

Because we’re in a leadership crisis.

Because we’re in a leadership crisis.
“About 1 out of 10 Canadian young adults with a Christian background is a resilient disciple today…”

The Connected Generation (Barna), p. 24

Who is YOUR 1?

Church Hubs help you train resilient disciples to become competent Christian leaders.

Be part of the solution!

Find your 1 today!

Fill out the online Church Hub application:

We’ll work together to solve the leadership crisis, one resilient disciple at a time!

Preparing competent Christian leaders with the church, for the church.

Pastor Mark Scarr is excited to establish a Church Hub in Ottawa and be a part of training Christian leaders in the future generation.

Through strategic partnership, Horizon and MCS are establishing Church Hub learning centres in both rural and urban settings.

A Church Hub is…

A church-based learning centre that allows students to integrate their studies at Horizon and MCS with ministry and learning in their local church context.

A Hub can be designed to serve the specific needs of the church and will have at least one ministry leader designated as supervisor-mentor.

Is this something for YOUR church to consider?

Let’s light up Canada!

Partnering with the local church to develop Christian leaders across the nation! Is there a Church Hub near you?

Church Hubs Canada Map Church Hubs Bancroft Pentecostal Hiway Pentecostal Mapleview Community Church Glad Tidings Church Calvary Assembly Cardinal Community Church Evangel Community Glad Tidings Tabernacle Parkview Church Temiskaming Pentecostal Church Bethel Huntsville Innisfil Community Church Hiway Pentecostal Kingston Gospel Temple Freedom in Christ Church Calvary Pentecostal Church Cornerstone Community Church Gateway Church Royal View Church Parkway Pentecostal Church Community Church (Waterdown) MCS Campus Centreview Central Community Calvary Pentecostal Temple Embassy Church Evangel Pentecostal Trinity Church Woodvale Pentecostal Grace Assembly Pentecostal Church Warden Full Gospel Assembly Living Word Calvary Church Clearview Community MCS-Horizon Toronto East Hope for Today Faith Welland Movement Church Calvary Temple Abundant Life Christian Life Centre Gospel Mission Soul Sanctuary One Church Humboldt Alliance Church Horizon Campus

Single Student Hub

A church that has one student ready to engage in ministry training at their church. Students will take classes remotely, although they may choose to travel once to four-times a year to take a one-week module on campus.

Multi-Student Hub

A church that has more than one student ready to engage in ministry training at their church and who may be willing to have other students from the area join their students as they engage in courses from MCS-Horizon (students from churches in the local area will typically engage in ministry at their respective home churches). While students will take most classes remotely, they may choose to travel once to four times a year to take a one-week module on campus and some classes may include in-person instruction at the Church Hub.

Destination Church Hub

A church that provides housing for multiple students, enabling them to engage in ministry training at the Church Hub. The cost of housing is to be determined by the Hub Church. MCS-Horizon will promote the hub as a location where students might choose to live and serve while they complete their programs. The church may also be willing to have other students from the local area join their students as they engage in courses from MCS-Horizon (students from churches in the local area will typically engage in ministry at their respective home churches). While students will take most classes remotely, they may choose to travel once to four times a year to take a one-week module on campus and some classes may include in-person instruction at the Church Hub.

Regional Church Hub

A church in a region where multiple churches are working together to establish a location where students from various churches will study together. Students from churches in the region will engage in ministry at their respective home churches. Students from outside the region are also welcome to move to study at the Regional Church Hub and serve at one of the churches in that region. While students will take most classes remotely, some classes may include in-person instruction at the Regional Church Hub.

pastor and student

Churches create a supportive learning environment for students and their peers by providing time and space to watch online class instruction and plugging them in to ministry service.

Benefits for Students and Churches

As an emerging leader serves in their own church, they will be shaped by the distinct vision and values held by that church.

  • reduces the overall cost of study for the student by not requiring them to move

  • increases student’s practical learning experiences in the context of a local church

  • boosting a willingness to respond to the call to full-time vocational ministry

James Schwab pastors in a rural church and has retained a student for ministry through distance education option.

“Win for the Kingdom of God!” Ontario pastor Jeff Hillier supports the idea of training students both academically and pragmatically through Church Hubs.

Church Hubs support ministries across our districts by serving students and churches where they are at. As more students engage in the day-to-day life of church ministry, we hope to see an increased sense of calling to full-time vocational ministry. Our world is facing a great need for competent, Spirit-filled leaders in our churches, both now and in the future.

Feedback from our Hub pastors and supervisors:

  • Hubs are well structured
  • Impressive support provided by the school
  • Good delivery methods

  • Positive experience all around

What’s expected of a Church Hub?

Each Church Hub will identify ministry opportunities for the student(s) and identify a Supervisor-Mentor who will meet periodically with the student(s) and report to the college by filling out an assessment form for each student at the end of each semester. Other requirements will vary depending on how much the church wishes to invest in their students and the desired level of college training.

Some Church Hubs will wish to invest more in students. This could include:

  • accountability and support for ongoing studies and academic challenges

  • weekly or bi-weekly mentorship and discipleship meetings

  • opportunities to engage in pastoral life at the church

  • officially identifying students as staff interns

  • planning other discipleship opportunities

James Anderson serves his community in Neepawa, Manitoba while continuing his studies entirely online.

Josué and John share their perspectives on Church Hubs from the vantage point of both student and pastor.

FAQs

There is no limit. We aim to establish Church Hubs at small rural churches, through to large urban churches. Every church, large or small, has the potential of becoming a Church Hub!

Yes. At the same time, where students are located close to one another, we would encourage them to meet and learn together during class time.

There is a process. To ensure there is a fit between the church and the student and the institution, churches must apply and be accepted to become a Church Hub. Please contact us for the application form.

Some of the general expectations we have are:

  • Churches that have a lead/senior pastor in place (not a church in transition).
  • The church should be a donor of record to their district and be involved in district activities.
  • The church should be a donor of record to MCS-Horizon. 
  • The church needs to speak well of the District, the PAOC Fellowship, and MCS-Horizon.

In most cases, students who study at a Church Hub are already attending the church or live in the area. In some cases, a church might also opt to be a destination hub, meaning that the college would promote that hub as a location where students might relocate to receive ministry training.

This depends on a number of factors, especially:

How many hours you are planning to invest in the student(s).

If the student is expecting or you are expecting the student to find part-time employment outside of the church.

How quickly the student wants to complete their program, and therefore, how many courses the student is taking each semester. Remember that students are expected to complete many hours of course work outside of their class time.

Here is a guide to consider:

Hours of Study Ministry & Mentored Hours Part-Time Non-Ministry Employment
Full-time study = 40 hrs/wk
(10+ courses per year)		 3-8 hours/week n/a
Part-time study = 30 hrs/wk
(7-8 courses per year)		 15 hours/week n/a
Part-time study = 30 hrs/wk
(7-8 courses per year)		 8 hours/week 8 hours/week
Half-time study = 20 hrs /wk
(5 courses per year)		 25 hours/week n/a
Half-time study = 20 hrs /wk
(5 courses per year)		 12 hours/week 12 hours/week
Limited study = 6 hrs / wk
(2 courses per year)		 varies varies

Yes! The amount of credit they receive will depend on:

The type and amount of ministry hours you have them involved in.

The amount of time your supervisor-mentor intends to invest in the student.

At minimum, students will receive one Ministry-Formation credit per semester. Later in their program, students who are completing their internship may receive up to twelve credits for their ministry experience.

In addition, students might receive full course credit (3 credits per course) for completing the requirements of practice-based courses, including courses like Introduction to Spiritual Formation, Introduction to Christian Mission, or Technology and Communication in Ministry. This would involve both ministry engagement and reading and discussing relevant books with their supervisor-mentor. Multiple courses may be completed in this manner.

Each church has its own distinct situation. Therefore each Hub will exhibit its own unique blend of opportunities, support, and requirements. Churches will set out a written agreement that is to be signed by the student(s) as soon as they start serving at the Church Hub. The Student-Church Agreement document is to be formatted and distributed by the church, clearly outlining the expectations surrounding student responsibilities, time commitment, ministry expectations, as well as what the student can expect from the church and from MCS-Horizon.

This is not required. The amount of financial support a church provides will depend on the ministry expectation the church has for students and the ability the church. Our hope is that studying at a Church Hub will allow students to graduate with minimal student debt; however, this does not require churches to pay students. Some ways churches might support students include finding opportunities for students work in part-time non-ministry employment outside of the church, finding students free room and board, paying for a portion of the student’s tuition or fees, paying students an hourly wage for their ministry time. Financial incentives may be tied to the successful completion of courses.

Most churches will find that they are receiving sufficient benefit from having students contributing to the ministries at their church. Nevertheless, MCS-Horizon will provide a portion of the Hub Student Fees to the church ($14/credit hour, up to a maximum of $204 per semester per student) to assist in serving students at the hub. The could be used, for example, to cover a portion of staffing costs, to provide a welcome package, or to take students out for coffee.

Supervisor-Mentors provide ministry supervision, student care, and spiritual formation opportunities for students. In some cases, a church may want to identify one person for ministry oversight and another for the care and spiritual formation of students. Responsibilities may include participating in the orientation and training for ministry supervisors, facilitating students’ involvement in ministry, engaging students in life and ministry conversations, meeting regularly with students to facilitate growth in their relationship with God and his people, providing an assessment of students, and providing general student support by directing students to appropriate resources for personal, academic, and financial issues (as explained in training).

The College Director of Ministry Formation will provide an orientation for Supervisor-Mentors.

Most of the distance education courses are integrated with the courses that are happening on-campus. Courses are available through live-streaming and video-on-demand and may include asynchronous or synchronous video discussions, which provide a personal connection to course instructors.

Yes! If you have a sufficient number of students (typically six to ten or more) who will take a course, the course could be offered in-person at your church. In some cases, the college might provide the instructor, in other cases you might have a qualified instructor (usually, a minimum of a Master’s degree in the area of teaching) who could teach the course. In either case, the college will provide a syllabus for the course. Courses that are provided in-person at your church will usually be live-streamed to other locations.

Yes! We encourage students who are studying at Church Hubs to consider periodically travelling to the MCS campus or to a destination hub to take a course in person. The colleges offer multiple one-week modules throughout the year to facilitate this.

MCS and Horizon share nearly identical undergraduate programs and students are welcome to apply to whichever school they wish, but applications typically follow a different pattern depending on where you live and whether you’re in a church with the PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada) or a different church denomination.

PAOC students living in Ontario and east of Ontario typically apply to MCS and PAOC students in Saskatchewan Manitoba typically apply to Horizon.

Students with the Alliance, Church of God (Cleveland), Mennonite Brethren, Redeemed Christian Church of God, and other church demonstrations are mostly served through Horizon.

Some Church Hubs will provide no tech, and others will invest significantly in tech. At some Church Hubs, students will study on their own computers in their own home or in a space at the church. Other Church Hubs will provide a full classroom space and tech (and tech support) for students to engage in classes together in a group.

A destination Church Hub that hosts in-person classes will need more extensive technology in order to live-stream the course to other locations. Some or all of the technology may be provided by the college.

The church must commit to operating the Church Hub for one academic year, which is September-April.

Yes! You could host one of our live-streaming courses or, at a time that is convenient for your church, one of our video-on-demand courses. You would provide the college with a list of student names, and the college would send the students a condensed application to ensure they meet admissions requirements. This process also ensures that students are in our learning management system and have access to all required online course materials. Some individuals may choose to audit the course, rather than take the course for credit.

New Hub at Legacy School of Ministry in Burlington, Ontario!

“We have been early adopters with the Church Hub and it has been amazing for our church and leaders. I don’t have to send my best leaders away – they stay and continue to serve while they learn in their context. I am very excited about all of this! I’m glad other districts can benefit from it!”

– Michael Fischer, Lead Pastor at Calvary Temple Brandon, MB

Michael Fischer
Taylore Anstey

“Being able to take courses online enables me to continue my studies while fulfilling my calling as a Lead Pastor. One of the most valued parts of education is the classroom setting. A sense of community in the classroom, and the ability to learn from others, is paramount. The college did an excellent job of making online courses foster a sense of community and opened the door for me to learn from others.”

– Taylore Anstey, Arnold’s Cove, Newfoundland

Additional Considerations

  • Has your church identified a potential student(s) who would join the Church Hub?
  • Is your church interested in hosting students who do not currently attend your church?
  • Do you have someone who can serve as a Supervisor-Mentor for students?
  • How much, if any, support is the Supervisor-Mentor prepared to give to students with respect to time management, academic challenges, spiritual formation, and ministry growth?
  • Would you want the college to provide most of the spiritual formation and ministry training for students, or would you desire to provide some of this for students? If so, how much?
  • In what ways could you integrate students into the life of the church?
  • How many hours of ministry service can your church provide to students?
  • Are there any ways that you can support a student(s) to help them reduce the amount of debt that they need to take on to complete their studies?
  • What tech and tech support, if any, is your church able to provide to facilitate courses?

Ready for the next step?

Talk to us about setting up a Church Hub in YOUR community by filling out the application form. If you have any other questions, email them to hubhost@horizon.edu.