About

Pathways is the way the Alliance of Reformed Churches credentials its pastors and promotes lifelong learning for all disciples. Pathways isn't a school. Rather, it is a map of competencies related to one's ministry role with pathways for achieving those competencies. Leaders move toward credentials by demonstrating competence in key areas. Along the way, Guides supervise each pastor along customized learning paths. Through Pathways leaders are able pursue Christian maturity in an innovative, contextual way.

Pathways ensures that pastors are properly credentialed and pursue lifelong learning in the Alliance of Reformed Churches. Pastors make progress by getting credit for demonstrated proficiency. That is, they show that they are mature, not by "time served" in school or ministry, but by submitting artifacts that match a library of competencies.  These areas of maturity cover the whole person: head, heart, and hands. Most pastors in Pathways are already embedded in either a church or Christian ministry, and it is there that they typically demonstrate competence through flexible and customizable training. Pastors have the option of doing structured learning through seminary or a discipleship program to meet competencies, but most learners will participate in a variety of training settings, at the local, network, and global levels. As for mentoring at each level, Pathways arranges to have three Guides (a local Mentor, a network Coach, and a global Advisor) surround each pastor. These Guides offer guidance, support, and assessment. Pathways offers a continuum of credentials with meaningful milestones. To be ordained as pastor, one must demonstrate 36 core competencies; further certification is achieved by a pastor after 144 practitioner competencies. That may sound like a lot, but at the beginning of Pathways each person goes through Maximum Credit process, which accomplishes mapping for prior learning. Most people with pastoral experience enter Pathways have already achieved many, if not most, of the competencies by the time they start. In this way, every pastor in the Alliance is empowered to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 3:18).