Affiliation

Heart 4 The Nations Bible School & Ministry Training Center was established in Spokane, Washington in 2000 as an extension of Heart For The Nations Bible School and Training Center a ministry of The Church of The Resurrection, Brooklyn Park, MN. The Church along with the Sr. Pastor Apostle Jim Rickard, are the founders of RAIN, Resurrected Apostolic International Network.

In December 2003, Heart 4 The Nations Bible School & Ministry Training Center was no longer an extension of Heart For The Nations Bible School and Training Center, a ministry of The Church of The Resurrection, Brooklyn Park, MN. Heart 4 The Nations Bible School & Ministry Training Center is now incorporated with Impact The Nations and is still identified with RAIN.

Accreditation/Recognition

Although not philosophically opposed to accreditation, Heart 4 The Nations is not accredited. “Accreditation” is a rather loose term and can mean a variety of things to a variety of people. To be formally and officially recognized as an “accredited” college by the government, a school must be evaluated and approved as such by an accrediting agency or association that is recognized by and submits to the requirements of the U.S. Department of Education.

In research in the area of accreditation, it has been found that even those professional agencies that are Christian-based and deal exclusively with Christian institutions such as Bible colleges, must adhere to the stringent guidelines and restrictions of the federal Department of Education (DOE). Among other policies enforced by the DOE is that of mandating “general education” course requirements. The general education courses would include requirements in the fields of the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and physical education.

We appreciate the value of general education courses as well as those Bible colleges that have pursued and achieved DOE recognized accreditation. However, the issue of providing substantial amounts of qualifying general education courses is one of the challenges that H4TN would need to face and embrace should we pursue officially recognized DOE accreditation.

An example could be given of one particular accredited Bible College in the western United States that maintains very high and laudable standards in the area of Bible and Theology requirements—the equivalent of 78 quarter hour credits for any Bachelor of Arts degree. However this college also requires the equivalent of 60 quarter hour credits of general education courses. This exceeds 30% of the total required academic credits for the degree.

If for this reason only, at this time, Heart 4 The Nations is not pursuing formal accreditation. At this point in our history, accreditation would require Heart 4 The Nations to so dilute its program emphases that we would be forced to veer off of our historical as well as our visionary mission and purpose.

As one Washington State educational official stated some years ago, the “accreditation” of a Bible College resides in the acceptance of their students by the churches to which they are called and in which they serve.

Consequently, students must understand that Heart 4 The Nations offers many more Bible and ministry preparation courses than do most colleges and does not offer the general education courses those colleges may require. A student who might consider transferring to another institution is strongly urged to check with that institution and receive in writing their credit transfer policy.

Because Heart 4 The Nations is a professional college offering specialized training for Christian leaders, pastors, teachers and missionaries, the Washington Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board has determined that the College qualifies for religious exempt status from the Degree Authorization Act.