Gateway Seminary’s ADVANCE centers provide accessible ministry training at a post-high school level. Since 1980, dozens of ADVANCE centers have offered affordable, quality education to ministry leaders across the United States and around the globe.
ADVANCE centers are established under a cooperative agreement between Gateway Seminary and a local church, association, state convention or organization. To establish a new ADVANCE center, please fill out and submit the following:
View the MOU which is an agreement between the center, the sponsoring organization, and Gateway Seminary. The Memorandum of Understanding will be completed in the New Center Application below.
Instructions: Go to joseph.gs.edu and click “Create account”. After entering that info, you will land on the Home page and see your newly issued 6-digit ID# displayed in the top left of the screen following your name. Next, scroll down and click “Find my center”. Then scroll down to the bottom of the next page and click “Apply to be the director of a new center”. Once you complete that form, we will begin processing your application.
Payment can be made online, by phone (909-687-1521; Mon-Fri, 8 am-5 pm Pacific Time), or send a $35 check from the sponsoring organization made out to “Gateway Seminary” with “ADV Center App Fee” in the memo line. Please mail to: Gateway Seminary, ADVANCE, Box 44, 3210 E. Guasti Rd. Ontario, CA 91761
We also host annual public events for students, churches, and leaders: This year we are hosting Mimnasko: a Biblical Languages Conference designed to cultivate faithful use of the biblical languages among pastors and ministry leaders. Information about the conference can be found at www.gs.edu/blc. ADVANCE students are eligible for credit for attending on campus (ask us how at [email protected])!
Look for announcements about these events in Gateway’s newsletter The Loop, and on Gateway social media.
[email protected]
Phone: 909-687-1652
Fax: 909-687-1592
Gateway Seminary
ADVANCE, Box 44
3210 E. Guasti Rd.
Ontario, CA 91761
Dr. Warren Haynes, ADVANCE Program Director
[email protected]
Schedule a meeting with Dr. Haynes on Calendly here.
New students will need a church endorsement submitted from their pastor and will need to pay a $35 new student application fee to their ADVANCE Center.
First step is to find the support of a sponsoring organization, and apply online. Then you can plan your classes, and recruit instructors and students. Please feel free to contact our ADVANCE National Director, Dr. Warren Haynes. You can schedule with him on Calendly here. You can also schedule a Zoom call with our team by emailing [email protected].
You can also view our new center training materials online here. The ADVANCE Calendar, New Center Training PowerPoint, Budget Planning Tool, and Local Center Operations Manual are great places to start.
ADVANCE programs offer three levels of education: 12-hr certificates, 24-hr diplomas and 48-hr leadership diplomas.
Certificates focus on a specific area of ministry.
Diplomas focus on a specific area of ministry, plus 12 hours of Christian studies (bible, theology & history).
Leadership Diplomas focus on a specific area of ministry, plus 24 hours of Christian studies, and 12 hours of leadership.
ADVANCE offers ministry training in these areas: Biblical Languages, Children’s Ministry, Chaplaincy, Christian Studies, Church Education, Church Planting, Discipleship, Leadership, Missions, Music Ministry, Pastoral Ministries, Peer Counseling, Preaching, Teaching, Women’s Ministry & Youth Ministry
A full list of programs and courses is available in the current Academic Catalog. Yearly course offerings vary by ADVANCE Center.
ADVANCE instructors must have completed at least some master’s-level work. Most ADVANCE instructors have fully completed theological master’s degrees, and are therefore fully-approved ADVANCE instructors. Other ADVANCE instructors may be current master’s students that have been approved to teach specific classes based on courses they have completed thus far. In rare cases, instructors may be approved to teach specific classes on a subject where they have extensive ministry experience, but no master’s degree.
All ADVANCE instructors must agree to teach in accordance with the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
All ADVANCE instructors must provide two references when applying.
ADVANCE instructors are not required to be ordained.
ADVANCE center directors, instructors and registrars should apply online at joseph.gs.edu, and select your desired role in the application. Directors, instructors and registrars will not be able to apply until after their center has been approved.
The ADVANCE National Office provides syllabus templates for all classes. We also provide some teaching resources for the core Christian Studies classes, as well as a few elective classes. Syllabus templates include a course description, course objectives, required and recommended textbooks, suggested assignments, grading scale, and a suggested schedule. The textbooks, assignments and schedules can be changed by the instructors to meet student needs.
If you would like to see an example course syllabus, please email [email protected]. Once you have been approved as a new director or instructor, you will receive access to all of our syllabi templates.
There is no set rate for payment for ADVANCE instructors. A few work pro bono. In 2021-2022, the average ADVANCE instructor was paid $750 per course taught. The average center director was paid $135 per semester (though about half direct their centers without being paid through ADVANCE tuition), and the average center registrar was paid $415 per semester.
We recommend instructors are paid based on how many students they teach, rather than how many classes, but there is no official policy. Instructor honorariums are made at the discretion of each center.
There is not a set application deadline for ADVANCE centers each semester, as ADVANCE semester schedules can be very flexible. However, it would be wise to allow for several months of planning and recruiting before starting your first class (3-4 months). You can view the ADVANCE Calendar here.
ADVANCE students receive Gateway Student ID #’s, have their own ADVANCE student status at the Gateway library, and diploma and leadership diploma students are invited to participate in all commencement events. ADVANCE students also have official transcripts at the Seminary. All ADVANCE certificates, diplomas and leadership diplomas have “Gateway Seminary” prominently displayed, as well as the Gateway seal.
They do not receive all of the same benefits as master’s or doctoral level students at Gateway Seminary, particularly because they do not hold business accounts with or pay tuition directly to the Seminary, but they are still considered students of the Seminary. With this being said, ADVANCE students belong to individual centers that are meant to be their main point of contact and source of administrative, financial and educational support.
Yes. Some students attend multiple centers to take a fuller course-load. Such students will need to complete a Dual Enrollment Form and designate a “home center” to maintain a student file for them and help them with their program progress. Additional centers are not obligated to maintain a student file for “visiting” students.
ADVANCE Centers are permitted to use the Gateway logo in promotion, under specific stipulations. The logo is available upon request. Before publishing promotional item with the Gateway logo, centers must submit their promo pieces for approval. Email promo pieces to [email protected].
When presenting ADVANCE and your center, language matters. ADVANCE is not an accredited program. ADVANCE Centers are not satellite campuses of Gateway Seminary. Examples of ways you may describe ADVANCE are:
“ADVANCE Centers partner with Gateway Seminary to offer quality ministry training at a post-high school level.”
“ADVANCE is a non-accredited program of Gateway Seminary that provides pre-baccalaureate theological education.”
Students completing ADVANCE programs receive ADVANCE certificates or ADVANCE diplomas from Gateway Seminary, rather than Gateway certificates or Gateway diplomas. Gateway Seminary also offers accredited certificates and diplomas, so distinction is obligatory in advertising.
Gateway Seminary will consider applicants lacking an accredited undergraduate degree for admission to its basic master’s degrees. This pathway is called the Master’s By Exception. A student must request admission under this provision in writing through the Office of Enrollment and may initiate this request only after all qualifying criteria have been met:
After completing the required 15 hours of coursework at the Gateway diploma level, students may then transfer up to 10 hours of qualifying ADVANCE credit into a Master’s degree.