Dear ASM Community,

What an exciting time the Spirit of God has brought us through in the past three years. From our very humble beginnings in 2007 with the Little Rock Network, today our school is nation-wide with students found as far west as California and as far east as North Carolina. We've even added a residential center in Jacksonville, FL!

We started with two instructors, 12 students, and 35 course enrollments. Now we've grown to 85 students, 200 course enrollments, and a faculty which can be favorably compared to some of the best accredited seminaries in the country. Our alumni include six Anglican presbyters (priests), seven vocational deacons, two licensed lay ministers, and three non-Anglican ministers, one of whom is the Vice-President of an accredited seminary in the Netherlands. It's not difficult to see why the Anglican Mission's Office of Leadership Development has approved Anglican School of Ministry for training candidates for ordination.

With God's help, we've not only increased our numbers but we've increased the academic quality of our programs through the addition of outstanding faculty members, most of whom either have or are candidates for a doctorate. The caliber of these Christ-centered

scholars, combined with the high standards of our certificates and diplomas, are such that three highly-regarded accredited theological schools entered into articulation agreements with us. The latest relationship we've established was with the world-renown London School of Theology, a global leader in training evangelical ministers and scholars. LST was so impressed with our curriculum that they will admit our diploma graduates into their innovative, distance learning Master of Arts in Aspects of Biblical Interpretation.

In God's providence, this growth has brought with it a number of challenges. Our fundamental commitment to providing high quality, parish-based theological education, coupled with our partner schools, requires us to follow what are known as Generally Accepted Practices (or GAP) which are basically the standards for academics and administration which are expected of serious, legitimate higher education institutions.
We've been very successful at meeting or exceeding the GAP for our academic programs.

For example, all of our instructors have the equivalent of a second degree in theology (in the US, generally a master of theology) or higher.
However, there are other areas where our growth has confronted us with shortfalls in our school. Among many requirements, we need:

• A more substantial scholarship fund to provide assistance for the many students we have who are struggling financially;
• More administrative staff to support our student body;
• Team members to develop our alumni community and charitable giving base;
• Larger offices to provide work space for our staff, volunteers, and growing library.

To meet these challenges we need two things: people and funds. The Lord has graciously provided us with an excellent team of teachers, staffers, and volunteers, as well as a number of people with very high qualifications who are "waiting in the wings" to join our school. What we are still short on is money.

ASM's board and I, with coaching from several consultants in leadership and education (who are offering their service free-of-charge), are developing plans to finance the school's commitment to continue growth in quality academics and student and alumni services. This will require us to engage in much more fund raising. We plan to do this through:

• Regular communications with our alumni;
• Encouraging churches to financially support their students;
• Applying for grants with the Anglican Mission and other organizations;
• Building a team to develop long-term charitable giving.

We are also looking to the students to help us by paying tuition more in line with the actual cost of their high-quality education. We are committed to maintaining our tuition rates at substantially below other distance-learning theological programs and to help our students
raise financial support for the cost of their studies.

Our school's philosophy of mission sums up the call the Lord has laid on us:
In order to grow new generations of fully-equipped, ordained and lay, Anglican leaders for effective Gospel-centered ministry, the mission of the ASM is to bring high quality ministry education, formation, and training to students in their local congregations. In fulfilling its mission, ASM provides flexible training for current and future leaders in the church.

The Board of Directors and I have renewed our commitment to this philosophy. The board has agreed that all its members will be financial contributors to the school and work with passion to develop our school so that we grow in our faithfulness to Christ. It is our prayer that our entire community: board, staff, faculty, students, alumni, and their churches will rise to meet the challenges.

Blessings in Christ Jesus,
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President and Dean of Little Rock