Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions!
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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. You can find the application form here.

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 Horizon or MCS.
• The church needs to speak well of the District, the PAOC Fellowship, Horizon and MCS.

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:

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 Horizon or MCS.

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, Horizon or MCS 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 or Horizon 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.

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.

We welcome applications at any time, but to successfully launch a Hub in September, the deadline to apply is July 30. For those who wish to begin in Term B (November), the deadline to apply is September 30.

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.

Important: A student must be fully accepted by Horizon or MCS before they can register for or begin any courses with a Church Hub. All of the application information can be found at For Students > Apply to Study >