Our Vision

Collegium Bible Institute was birthed in 1988 under the name Five Fold Ministries. From its inception the vision was to be a place to equip the saints to do the work of God. In the year 2000 we began to produce curriculum for the institute. In 2003 we opened our first training academy. To us, that was only the beginning of what we felt God was tasking us to do. The ultimate goal is to have world class training centers for those called to ministry and for those called into the market place.

When we surveyed the landscape of Christendom, including ourselves, we realized that there was a serious gap between what is called discipleship today and what discipleship was in the early Church. The differences we found were due in part to centuries of change. What are we to do? Do we embrace the modern method that seems to be failing to turn out credible, matured, and seasoned ministers, or do we take an honest look at what the early Church did and modernize it without destroying the substance? We took that latter route. When looking at the local Church and the Christian colleges we took note of these differences.

• Whereas the early Church made the same education available to all saints, the modern Church has separated the education section from the local Church and created colleges.
• Whereas there was a premium placed upon solid doctrine in the early Church, the modern Church has often consigned it as unimportant or secondary to worship.
• Whereas the early Church was Hebraic oriented, the modern Church is Greek oriented.
• Whereas the saints in the early Church were to be doing the work of God, in the modern Church the Pastor is expected to do the work of God.
• Whereas the five callings of Ephesians 4:11 were active in the early Church, only three are accepted in the modern Church.
• Whereas miracles were the norm in the early Church, they are a rarity in the modern Church.
• Whereas the saints ministered in the early Church, the saints are relegated to their seats in the modern Church.

The next task then is to integrate the early Church substance into a modern culture. We must be able to convince the modern culture that bible study is not a past time recreation. If we are to bring validity back to the American Church, it will only come through serious study of the Word of God. Our vision is to convey this simple truth to those who are willing to hear to the end that the person would enjoin themselves to serious, diligent study of the things they have taken for granted.

In the Hebraic culture a child was taught the Tanakh (Old Testament Bible) by their parents until their bar mitzvah at age 12 or 13. Then they were taught the Tanakh by the Doctors of the Tanakh until they were 30. That amounts to 25 years of education with at least 17 of those years being taught by seasoned biblical instructors. If we are to become valid again in a society that has lost its taste for anything Christian, we must have a valid message and be able to defend that message in the face of opposition.

Our vision took shape, and we developed an interconnected system of academic study that would be acceptable to a modern culture and still retain the substance of the early church fathers. In that vision we see a biblical institute, but not like the paradigm of a modern college today. What we created is a biblical institute accessible to all saints for increasing their knowledge of God whether they are in a degree program for entering into full time ministry or they are in the market place and want to be able to defend their faith and learn of Him who bought them with His precious blood.

In this institute, one is not just learning, but developing in character, gifting, and relationship with God. Our vision is for each student to be engaged in being mentored as well as being taught. This program would also be available as a framework for the local Church to model in order to become a significant force for God in their community. Even after going through four years of training, the student will have by that time, developed the mindset of being committed to a life long journey of learning and studying. In this, we will have modeled the early Church.

Our vision is to have a campus setting with student housing and facilities that will allow us to bring in instructors from around the country to share their wisdom with our students. That is our future. We also feel that we are called to the nations and that this system of education should be made available to those around the world that are hungry to do the work of God. It is for this reason that we opened our online E-Learning center in 2008. Now Christian leaders around the world are able to access our lessons and begin training their groups to function according to their call.