Lutheran Campus Mission Association

CROSS Training Online Continuing Education Series

In partnership with campus and young adult ministry leaders around the country, LCMA offers the CROSS Training online continuing education series. The CROSS Training series provides interactive courses that engage learners in vital matters of Christian life from a strong theological perspective. In the CROSS Training series, learners will study the Bible, connect with the Lutheran confessions, and theologically confront real issues facing Christians today.

Because of its importance to today’s church, education in ministry to the young adult community is a major focus of the CROSS Training series. The series also addresses many areas of Christian practice, such as prayer, worship, witness, the Christian family, and mission.

Features of LCMA's CROSS Training series

Multi-session courses on topics relevant to the life and work of the church today
Scripture-based curriculum incorporating insight from broad understanding of church and culture
Instructors who are qualified scholars, who embrace Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, and who teach from a Lutheran Christian worldview
Online video lecture with interactive components during live presentation
Archived sessions that can be viewed anytime

Benefits of LCMA's CROSS Training series

Adds dimension to a congregation's capacity to deliver quality Christian education
Helps deepen insight into the church's mission to the world of the 21st century
Helps deepen insight into our vocations as followers of Jesus Christ
Encourages lifelong learning and spiritual formation
Offers opportunities for laypeople to explore God's call to serve the church and others
Uses widely available technology to offer intensive, pertinent education at a reasonable cost

Curriculum

The curriculum offered through the CROSS Training series is designed specifically to equip laypeople for discipleship, witness, and service in today's church and in the culture around them. Recent CROSS Training series course offerings have included the following (and more):

Declare and Defend
Managing Your Money
Communicating and Crisis Management
Church Planting/Starting Anew

How it works

When your congregation registers as a CROSS Training virtual campus, any member or student is eligible to participate in any available course. Each multi-session course is presented live once; participation in these sessions includes the ability to interact with the instructor through a chat tool. All sessions are archived—which means that they may be viewed any time during the semester (although the interactive feature will not be available in archived sessions). You may wish to present courses in a classroom setting with audiovisual media at your church and then discuss the presentation as a group afterward. How you present and use the content in your ministry setting is up to you.

Technical Concerns

A “wired” (vs. wireless) broadband Internet connection is recommended. A video connection from a computer is recommended in a group setting (projector attachment or TV). A congregation’s participants may be in multiple locations (a small group could be connected from a church meeting room at the same time an individual is participating from home).

How does a congregation participate?

For registration details, visit our Registration page.