The Evangel Dean Basic Training Resource Handbook

144 • T HE E VANGEL D EAN B ASIC T RAINING R ESOURCE H ANDBOOK

the spring of 1996 and currently holds classes, hosts colloquia, and sponsors seminars for laypersons and pastors who minister in the city. Our mission is to equip leadership for the urban church, especially among the poor, to advance the Kingdom of God in the city. We provide biblical and theological training that is both inexpensive and accessible to Christian leaders among the underprivileged in the city. Our sincere conviction is that God has selected the poor to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom of God. We believe without equivocation that some of the finest disciples and missionaries of our time will arise from the rank and file in the churches of the urban poor. We have dedicated ourselves to do everything we can to raise up qualified spiritual laborers for Christ and his Kingdom among the poorest of the poor in America’s inner cities. All of our programming, teaching and sponsorships are to this end.

The Institute opened in the spring of 1996 and currently holds classes, hosts colloquia, and sponsors seminars for laypersons and pastors who minister in the city.