About

The Cross Church School of Ministry is a one-year residential ministry experience that prepares leaders for life, ministry, and Gospel advancement globally.

Since the early years of Dr. Ronnie Floyd’s 31-year tenure as pastor of Cross Church, we have invested in hundreds of young men and women who are now impacting the Kingdom of God all around the globe. God has granted Cross Church enormous favor and so, nearly a decade ago, Pastor Floyd began to dream and envision something more. The question at hand was, “If God has used Cross Church to impact and send out so many when this was not necessarily our focus, what if we made it our focus?” In short – what if we became intentional about raising up, training, and sending out leaders? In the summer of 2012, Pastor Floyd announced to the ministry staff team of Cross Church that he believed 2013 would be the year God would put structure and systems to what He had been doing at Cross Church for years; raising up and sending out next generation leaders in ministry.

That same summer, Pastor Floyd began serious discussions with Dr. Jeff Crawford about the possibility of God calling him from his pastorate in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to lead this endeavor. The fall of 2012 saw the hand of God move in a mighty way as Pastor Floyd, Dr. Crawford, along with Cross Church ministry leaders Nick Floyd, Ben Mayes, and Andy Wilson began to meet and carve the vision for the Cross Church School of Ministry.

The vision began to take on public form when on Sunday morning, December 16, 2012, Pastor Floyd preached a powerful message from Luke 1 called, How to Believe God for Your Future. In this message, Pastor Floyd announced to the church, “Therefore, in 2013, we are going to begin to put structure and systems in place to support what God is already doing, and prayerfully, this structure will take it to heights beyond our imagination. We are going to begin what we are calling: The Cross Church School of Ministry: Preparing Leaders for Life, Ministry, and Gospel Advancement Globally.”

Just three weeks later on January 6, 2013, in another sermon called, Investing In Others, from 2 Timothy, Pastor Floyd announced to the church that Dr. Jeff Crawford had answered the call to lead the Cross Church School of Ministry as its first president. At the same time, Dr. Crawford was announcing his resignation from his pastorate. In the words of Pastor Floyd , “We have no students yet and by faith, we are beginning in August. Prayerfully, God will call one, or five, or ten, or more to be the first class of the Cross Church School of Ministry.”

February 1, 2013, saw the birth of the Cross Church School of Ministry as Dr. Crawford began his tenure as president. The vision had become reality. The first class of students arrived in August of 2013, and only God knows the heights to which we will be called to soar.

The purpose of the School of Ministry is not to replace what our universities and seminaries do by way of theological education but to complement them. The School of Ministry will provide a unique opportunity for any young man or woman called to ministry and Kingdom service to gain practical ministry experience in the Cross Church setting. Students will come to the School of Ministry pre-college, during college, post-college, pre-seminary, mid or post–seminary, or whenever in ministry to have classroom, mentorship and hands-on experiences preparing them as leaders for life, ministry, and Gospel advancement globally. School of Ministry graduates will understand local church ministry—this will alter the way they live, lead, and extend the Gospel throughout their lifetime.

What the Cross Church School of Ministry Experience gets you:

On-the-job experience at one of Outreach Magazine’s largest and fastest growing churches in America
Customized ministry tracking
Credit hours to apply toward your degree
One-day-a-week, Oxford-style learning environment
Personal mentorship by a Cross Church ministry faculty member
Two national mission experiences
One international mission experience
Exposure to the multi-site movement of Cross Church Northwest Arkansas
Access to the Cross Church network for the remainder of your ministry years