Overview

The Foundry is committed to ministry formation that is church-centered rather than school-centered, and uses holistic models of learning. Our ministry training cohorts are for leaders who are actively serving in the church. Our curriculum has a dynamic core that centers on Scripture, theology, ministry skills, personal spiritual formation, and cultural engagement. Every subject is approached from a formational and contextual lens.

Learning Format

While there may be similarities to a classroom setting, these courses center on learning together. They are participatory in style and less formal than traditional school settings. They take a hybrid approach with in-person meetings typically once every other week for approximately 3 hours, supplemented with other resources and learning opportunities online. This pace enables sustainable involvement in ministry and in the learning cohort. Each course is typically 8 weeks long.

Evaluation and Assignments
Learning is evaluated through reflections, discussion, written assignments, and ministry-related assignments. Our main question is “Are participants being equipped for ministry in the local church?” Not “Have participants mastered the intellectual content?” So our assessments are based on demonstrated competency in a particular area.

Typical Course Sequence

Year 1

The Missional Story of Scripture

This course focuses on understanding the overarching biblical story from Genesis to Revelation,
as well as understanding the various cultural stories that shape our contemporary world so that
we can better understand the way that people in our culture and churches inhabit these stories
in their everyday lives. These stories are compared and contrasted with the big story of the
Bible in order to equip participants to better understand and communicate God’s mission for his people in our contemporary culture.

Spiritual Formation and Discipleship

This course explores a biblical theology of discipleship and focuses on equipping leaders to develop the spiritual formation and disciplines needed in their own life, as well as equipping them to disciple others.

Biblical Interpretation

This course addresses the doctrine of revelation and Scripture. From that foundation, it cultivates the skill and art of biblical interpretation with a view toward both the exegesis of Scripture and Spirit-filled application of the text today.

Engaging the Old Testament

This course engages the key themes and content of the Old Testament. The course pays special attention to the issues that arise in handling the Old Testament in a way that honors the various genres involved and ultimately centers on the gospel of Jesus Christ. This course also explores the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to teach and preach the Old Testament in ways that are biblically sound and practically effective.

Foundations of Christian Theology

This course explores several of the foundational teachings (“doctrines”) of the Christian faith. Who is God? What is the Gospel? How is Jesus both God and man? What does salvation mean? Where do we even get our theology? How do we identify what teachings are essential, important, or debatable within Christianity? Why does any of this matter for life and ministry? We dig into these questions and many others in this learning community.

Year 2

Engaging the New Testament

This course engages the key themes and content of the NewTestament. The course pays special attention to the issues that arise in handling the New Testament in a way that honors the various genres involved and ultimately centers on the gospel of Jesus Christ. This course also explores the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to teach and preach the New Testament in ways that are biblically sound and practically effective.

Distinctives of Reformed Theology and Practice

This course surveys key distinctives of Reformed theology and practice. What does it mean to be Reformed? Does God have a plan? How does predestination work? Can someone lose their salvation? Should babies be baptized? How is Jesus present in the Lord’s Supper? When is the rapture and the millennium? This course digs into these questions and more as we consider several key distinctives of Reformed theology and practice, including TULIP (soteriology), the church and worship (ecclesiology), and the future (eschatology)

Spiritually Healthy Leadership

This course explores the spiritual, mental, and emotional challenges that face leaders of the church and aims to cultivate practices of life and behavior that will sustain effective ministry. In addition, it defines and explores key characteristics and competencies of good leadership in the church with a view toward building those skills in practical ways.

Pastoral Care and Counseling

This course is a practical introduction to pastoral care that emphasizes pastoral care practices that are suitable in a variety of ministry contexts. We focus especially on the personal and practical ministry of the Word to the real-life contexts of discipleship, including both the character traits and the skills necessary to care well.

Church History for the Church

This course explores key points of church history with a view toward how the church’s response to questions and struggles in their day can help us better respond to questions and struggles of our day.

Cost and More Information

The cost for an individual is $600 per student per course. The Foundry also works with churches to calculate an appropriate maximum cost when they have four or more students in a course. Each course typically has 12-20 learners with a maximum of 30. This best facilitates the kind of interactive learning that will serve the learners and their ministries.