Perspectives Course

Perspectives Course

One of the purposes of the External Ministry Team at Crossway is to equip the people of Crossway “for missional thinking toward healthy, biblical worldview and engagement with others.” One of the ways we have done that in the past is to encourage people to participate in the Urbana Student Missions Conference https://urbana.org, and then to provide support in a variety of ways to make that possible. (FYI, the next Urbana is in December, 2022.) It has been wonderful to hear the testimonies of people whose lives were changed because of this conference!

Another direction we are excited to pursue is the Perspectives course https://www.perspectives.org This 16-week course has had a profound effect on so many people with its focus on God’s global purpose. Whether people go internationally as missionaries or in some other way, or they continue to live in their current context, this course is designed to equip people to live “on mission” for Christ.

Perspectives is normally taught as an in-person course with guest speakers as well as rich material that each participant is required to read. During the pandemic, the Perspectives course is only available online. There are three formats:

  • Independent Study: Students are given access to the material and given 6 months to complete it.
  • Online class that follows a weekly schedule, yet without any live sessions. This gives you access to videos and audio of the guest speakers, as well as an online community from around the world as you are processing the same materials each week.
  • Virtual Class that includes live Zoom sessions (Sundays, 5-8pm, January 17 through May 23). Obviously this option gives the opportunity for live, rich interaction among participants.

We would love to see a cohort of people from Crossway participate in Perspectives this spring! We plan to pray for and encourage those who do, and there is also the possibility of some financial support. Which format people join would depend upon what people want.

The cost for Perspectives is $225 as a “certificate”. It is also possible to receive credit, which raises the cost to $440. Note that books are not included in the registration. As an expression of support for people to participate, the External Ministry Team is offering scholarship support of up to $125. If you have additional need, please let us know so that we can identify ways to help reduce the financial barriers for those who want to participate.

Are you interested? Do you know of someone else who might be? Please see the scholarship application form or contact Pastor John at johnbell@crosswaymchurch.org or 517-881-5773.