FAQs
1. What is CVTS? Christian Vocational Training School (CVTS) is a school for born-again Christian adults (ages 18+) who wish to learn skills for Christian life and ministry through a highly accessible and highly affordable school.
2. How does CVTS differ from other Christian schools such as Bible schools or seminaries? While we believe strongly in seminary education, we also believe that an academic degree or seminary education is not required of every believer to fulfill his/her purpose in the body of Christ. Our course offerings target key areas from Christian living to ministry training to Bible studies, and we believe that this variety is a key strength for CVTS.
3. What level of education do I need to enroll in CVTS? We do not have any academic requirements governing our classes. Many of our students have high school diplomas, and several have advanced degrees. While we recognize that academic credentials are the central foci of many schools, our focus is to train and equip. Thus, our classes have students of different ages, races and academic levels; we train our faculty to adjust their teaching to account for this variation so that all students are always learning. We feel confident that this continues to be the case.
4. I like the courses that CVTS offers. Do I have to be a Christian to enroll? Yes and No. Many of our courses require a clear Christian basis for students. Thus, we do require that students who enroll in courses offered at churches are born-again believers, professing faith in Jesus Christ. Courses in the community, however, can introduce people, Christians and non-Christians, to key principles while helping them develop skills for life; thus, courses offered in the community do not limit enrollment to Christians.
5. Why is the course fee so low for CVTS courses? Does this mean that my education will be poor? There are several reasons for the fee structure we employ. Our primary reason for the low costs for our courses is our fundamental belief that education must be within reach for all of our students. This is even more important during such tough economic times. Also, because of our close partnership with Colorado Christian Fellowship, CVTS does not depend totally upon course fees to operate. Instead, we are able to utilize significant portions of course fees to support the outreach, community, and overseas efforts in which we currently are engaged. Lastly, our faculty members volunteer to teach courses about which they are passionate and have experience. These factors minimize our expenses.
6. What are some of the outreach or missions efforts of CVTS? One of our most exciting overseas efforts is establishing Christian Vocational Training School, Southern Africa (CVTS, SA). Lubinda Akamandisa, a native Zambian, has been working closely with CVTS to prepare ministry and Christian living training for believers in Zambia. A Christian nation, Zambia has a great need for affordable, culturally relevant ministry education that is also good quality. Supporting Lubinda's efforts in Zambia allows us to accomplish this.
In addition to CVTS, SA, we also are working to establish outreach and community-based courses throughout metro-Denver. More information about these efforts will be posted as it becomes available.
7. Can I be ordained by CVTS? This is a really popular question—one that we probably cannot stress enough. First, it is important to note that CVTS does not ordain people into ministry. Instead, through a partnership with Global Change Network, USA (GCN, USA), we offer courses to prepare ordination candidates in addition to various other courses and Programs of Study. Students interested in being ordained should contact GCN, USA for information about the process. Although our partnership allows us to offer courses for GCN, USA, CVTS is not involved in the process of determining candidacy. Useful information about ordination can be found on the GCN, USA website (www.gcnusa.org).
8. I think that CVTS is something that can benefit my home church. Is this possible? By providing accessible opportunities for education, we have significant flexibility in determining approaches that support the efforts of churches and community organizations to provide education and training for various populations. Our course variety and school philosophy allow us to partner with local churches and community organizations to offer almost all of our classes at their locations, which are usually much more accessible to their constituents. However, it is important to know that we handle each partnership request on a case-by-case basis.
Do you have other questions not included in this FAQ? Send your questions via e-mail to ajefferson@ccfword.org for a personal response. Depending upon frequency, some questions will be posted on this site for others to view.