BASOM Extends Educational Opportunities with New Partnership
By: Mark Mitchell, BASOM Executive Director

I am pleased to announce that BASOM has formed a partnership with Kairos University, one of the largest and most diverse accredited systems of competency-based theological education in the world. Through our partnership with Kairos, our Pastoral Residents will have the option to enter a bachelors, masters, or doctoral program during their residency at a fraction of the cost of traditional seminaries.

Our primary goal at BASOM is to strengthen the work of God in the Bay Area by raising up leaders through our Pastoral Residency Program. We partner with churches to help them identify and train the future leaders of their church through mentored ministry experience and our BASOM coursework.

One question I am often asked is, “What about seminary?” Indeed, seminary is the traditional route for pastoral ministry training. While many non-denominational churches hire men and women without a seminary degree, many denominations still require an M.Div. degree for ordination. I, myself, chose a two-year internship program much like BASOM to start with, but later attended seminary to strengthen my training. While BASOM can prepare you for pastoral ministry, BASOM does not possess the resources to replicate a seminary education.

This new partnership with Kairos allows BASOM to leverage most of Kairos’ resources and educational opportunities while continuing to be our own separate legal entity with our own governance. Our hope is that this will be another avenue in which BASOM can serve the churches of the Bay Area. In the last few decades, most bible schools and seminaries that were here have vacated the Bay Area. My hope is that our partnership with Kairos will help fill the hole that they left.

If you would like more information about this new opportunity, please email me. In the meantime, I invite you to learn more about Kairos University’s program offerings.