Bachelor of Religious Education

The 129 credit hour Bachelor of Religious Education (B.S.) degree is the paramount Bible college degree. It is designed to prepare men and women for careers in some vocational Christian ministry such as the pastorate, evangelism, missions, church educational ministries, biblical counseling, youth work, Christian school teaching, and other related ministries. All students in the Bachelor of Religious Education program pursue two majors: one in Biblical studies and one in a vocational ministry major. Crossroads currently offers majors in the following vocational ministries: Pastoral Ministry, Pre-Seminary, Urban/Ethnic Ministry, International Missions, Local Church Education, Biblical Counseling, Youth Ministry, and Elementary Education.

Every student in the degree program takes 45 credit hours of Biblical studies and 39 credit hours of Christian ministry related courses. The Christian ministry courses include at least 27 credit hours of courses in the student's chosen vocational ministry major. In addition, the typical B.S. student will take 42 credit hours of general education courses (depending on how he or she satisfies the general education proficiency requirements) leaving three credit hours for a general elective. The general educational core includes courses in language arts, humanities, the social and natural sciences, study skills and computer applications. These general education courses give our graduates cultural and academic resources for a more skillful and effective Christian ministry.

Biblical Education Core	General Education Core	Vocational Ministry Courses
45 credit hours in Bible, theology & related subjects	39 credit hours in language arts, humanities, social & natural sciences, etc.	42 credit hours in Christian ministries & professional studies.

 
In order to graduate from the B.S. program, the student must complete all specified course work and satisfy all general education proficiencies (see General Education). In addition, students must complete the minimum of six semesters of Christian service, a required internship, and all other graduation requirements (see Graduation Requirements). The B.S. degree program normally takes a full-time student four years to complete, but there is no upper limit on the time to complete the program.

The 129 credit hour B.S. degree requires students to complete general education requirements (see General Education), a Bible major (see Bible Major) and all the requirements for a vocational ministry major (see Vocational Ministry Majors). In addition, the following general Christian ministry courses are required of each student regardless of major:

 

CP 101	Personal Evangelism	3 hours
CE 201	Introduction to Christian Education	3 hours
CM 201	Introduction to Missions	3 hours
CC 314	Biblical Counseling	3 hours

 
For B.S. students, a schedule for taking courses is given along with the requirements for each major under the descriptions of the various majors (see Vocational Ministry Majors). It is highly recommended that the student follow the schedule as closely as possible in order to satisfy lower-level prerequisites for higher-level courses. The structure of some majors makes it extremely difficult to vary the order of the courses required by the major.