"Strengthening the Church. Equipping called leaders."Saturday, May 18, 2013

About

About Christian Leaders Institute

Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) is a ministry of Christian Leaders, which is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit ministry. Click here to see United States Treasury IRS letter. With a budget of about $700,000, CLI trains thousands of bi-vocational and vocational ministry students from over 90 countries.

The ministry problem Christian Leaders Institute seeks to solve is to train lay leaders who sense the call into ministry no matter what their financial situation looks like. We offer a relevant vehicle for high quality Bible School grade ministry training where leaders get training right where they are in connection to a local sponsor/mentor of their choosing.

We seek to make this training available free of charge for any called Christian leader.  Every accepted student who agrees to our faith statement and who completes the getting started class gets an opportunity to have advanced training.

Christian Leaders Institute offers 22 advanced ministry training classes. Most of the classes include the study materials in the electronic syllabus so that students will not need to buy books.

For your information: We ask students to make a donation of any amount each semester they study at Christian Leaders Institute. This student donation helps students to realize the value of each course offered.

 

History of CLI

Henry Reyenga with Rich DeVos and Dwight Howard

Christian Leaders was founded in 2002 by Rev. Henry Reyenga Jr. under the encouragement of Rich DeVos Sr. and Ron Parr who agreed to be part of the founding board of directors. The founding mission of Christian Leaders was to use technology to identify, train and mobilize bi-vocational Christian Leaders everywhere.

Shortly after starting Christian Leaders, Rev. Reyenga extensively studied the use of the Internet as a tool for reproducing Christian leaders. Finally, his study of cutting-edge Internet technologies brought him to start offering Internet classes in 2006 and brought advanced training to bi-vocational pastors and church planters in the United States and Canada.

CLI has grown significantly since 2006.

2007 Six new student with 3 active students (students who at least take one class) Budget $230,000 (Est)
2008 Twenty five Students with 12 active students Budget $250,000
2009 Seventy five new Students with 25 active students Budget $300,000
2010 Five hundred new Students with 110 active students Budget $390,00
2011 One thousand new Students with 245 active students Budget $450,000
2012  Fourteen thousand new students with over 1,000 active students. Budget $550,000.
2013 Goal: Fourteen thousand new students in the getting started class.  Graduates 1,400 with certificates and diplomas.  Budget $700,000

Board & Staff

2013 Board of Directors

Brian DeCook
Ed Van Drunnen
Kevin Clark
Ron Parr
Todd Hazelton

Dave Feddes and Henry Reyenga

The Christian Leaders Institute Staff

President – Henry Reyenga, Jr.
Provost – David Feddes
Vice President of Development – Keith Frens
Technology Director – Jerry Lorenz
Preaching and Church Planting Professor – Steve Elzinga
Dean -  Jim Martin
Editor – Pam Reyenga
Director of Communications – Joshua Harris
Admissions Assistant – Angela Martin
Social Media and Customer Service – Joel Prince
Provost’s Assistant – Cole Heard
Web Marketing and Fund Raising Consultant – Richard Boureston
Accountant and Book keeping – Jane Weemer

CLI Faculty

CLI faculty members combine keen intellect with enthusiastic experience in outreach and ministry. We strongly believe in making disciples of all nations. All CLI professors have advanced degrees, almost all have planted a church, and most have international or inter-cultural mission experience. CLI professors believe that Bible-based home-discipleship builds spiritual strength and inter-generational Christianity.

Some Faculty Members in 2009

Some Faculty Members in 2009.

Statement of Faith

  • The Bible is God’s inerrant Word, the only final authority for faith and life. (Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 8:20; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
  • God is Trinity, an eternal, loving unity of three divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 14:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
  • God created the universe ex nihilo, from nothing, and made all things very good.
  • (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11; Hebrews 11:3)
  • God created humanity to glorify and enjoy God and to be stewards of creation.
  • (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8; Isaiah 43:7; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 37:4)
  • Humanity has fallen into sin, and we are totally unable to save ourselves.
  • (Genesis 3; Romans 3:12, 23; Romans 5:12)
  • Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.
  • (Matthew 1:21-23; John 1:1,14; 20:28; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:14)
  • Jesus was born of a virgin, obeyed God perfectly, worked great miracles, died on a cross, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and reigns over all things.
  • (Luke 1:26-35, Hebrews 4:15; John 14:11, Luke 23-24, Ephesians 1:20-23)
  • Salvation is merited only by Jesus’ perfect obedience and substitutionary atonement.
  • (Isaiah 53; Hebrews 7:26-27; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Acts 4:12)
  • Salvation is entirely God’s gift, not our achievement, and is received by faith, not works. (John 3:16; Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 2:16-21)
  • The Holy Spirit gives new birth, unites us to Christ, equips us with His gifts, and empowers us to be His ambassadors. (John 3:3-8; Romans 8:9-11; Ephesians 3:16-21; 1 Corinthians 12; Acts 1:8)
  • The church is the one body of God’s people throughout all generations and from all nations. (Romans 12:5; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 1:22-23; Revelation 7:9)
  • Christ gives two signs and seals of his grace: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
  • (John 4:1; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Matthew 28:19; Mark 14:22-24; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
  • God’s holy angels defend and help God’s people.
  • (Psalm 34:7, 91:11; Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:14)
  • Satan and other fallen angels are dangerous but doomed. Christ is victor.
  • (Ephesians 6:10-18; Colossians 2:15; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:10-12)
  • Christ will return visibly to rule the world and to make all things new.
  • (Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 21:1-5)
  • God’s people will rejoice forever in heaven; God’s enemies will suffer forever in hell.
  • (Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 22:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 1:9)
  • God’s covenant addresses not only individuals but also their families.
  • (Genesis 17:7; 18:19; Deuteronomy 7:9; Joshua 24;15; Psalm 103:17; Acts 11:14; 16:15,31)
  • As individuals, as couples, and as families, we need daily conversation with God through Bible reading and prayer. (Psalm 1; Daniel 6:10; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
  • We are called to a life of love, as depicted in the Ten Commandments.
  • (Exodus 20:1-17; Mark 12:30-31; John 14:15; Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13)
  • We are called to spread the gospel to people who don’t yet follow Christ.
  • (Psalm 96:3; Matthew 5:14; 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15)
  • We are called to a world view and way of life which seeks to honor Christ in every area of thought and action. (Psalm 24:1; Colossians 3:17; 2 Corinthians 10:5)