A handbook tells students what you expect. An application tells you who is coming.

Do not skip the application. It is not red tape. It is the first act of knowing a student. Before you teach, pray for, or send him out, know his name, story, church, and what God put on his heart. Keep it plain. Ask what you need to know, nothing more.

Start With the Facts

First, the application gives personal information. Name. Address and a way to reach him. Age and family. His church and his pastor. His work. His schooling so far.

These facts help you care for him. Reach him when he misses class, pray for his family by name, talk with his pastor, place him where he can serve. A school that does not know its students cannot shepherd them.

One Sheet for a Testimony

Have each applicant write out his personal testimony on one sheet.

One sheet forces a plain story. Who was he before Christ? How did he meet the Lord? What changed? He needs his own words, honest and clear.

Read it like a shepherd, not a judge. It tells you where he started, what God did, and what he still needs to learn. Writing it helps him own his story. In hard weeks, he can look back and remember. Saying what God did, in order, reminds him grace came first.

The Call, in His Own Words

Have him write out his call to the ministry, if he feels that God has called him.

Ask him to say it plainly. When did he sense it? How did God speak? What confirmed it? Who else sees it? A written call starts a conversation; it does not end one.

If he is not sure, let him say so. Do not press him to invent a call, or dress up a desire to serve as a call to preach. Some come to grow and find their place. Some come sure. Both are welcome. The school helps him test what he senses against Scripture, and hear what his pastor sees in him.

References Tell You What Paper Cannot

Have him get references to enter.

A reference is a trusted voice about a life you do not yet know. Start with his pastor. Add others who watched him live, work, and serve. Ask plainly: faithful? Honest? Teachable? Does he keep his word? Does home match church?

References protect the student and the school. They show what paper cannot. A good one says, "This man is known and commended." A weak one is a reason to talk, wait, or start him where he is, with help.

Honor the Work Already Done

Have him give you copies of all postgraduate work he has done.

Evaluate it. See if you can allow him to transfer some courses. Sound work should not be redone to prove it was done. Give credit where it fits, and say so plainly.

Be plain about what does not transfer, and why. If a course does not match, say so kindly, in advance. Place him where he can learn what he still needs, without wasting years God already gave him.

An Exam That Shows Growth

See if you can find an entrance exam that shows what an applicant knows about the Bible.

Give it at entrance. Keep the score. Give the same exam after his studies, to show how much he learned. That second score is a gift. He sees how far he came, and handles the Book better than when he arrived.

It is not meant to shame a man who starts with little. Many good students do. It is a baseline, showing the school where to begin and, in the end, showing the student that the years were not wasted.

Open a File on Each Student

When a student enters, open a file on him. Keep it for his entire time at the school.

Keep his application in the file. Keep his grades and courses up to date so an adviser can see where he stands. Keep his ministry reports too: church, visiting, souls, contacts, devotions, discipling. Over time, the file tells a story no grade can tell: faithfulness, growth, struggle, steadiness.

Keep the file private, seen only by those who need it. A file is a trust. A well-kept file also protects the school. When a question comes later, the record answers it. A good file helps everyone: the teacher advises with facts, the pastor sees how his member does, the student sees his record and takes heart or correction from what is true.

Train the Man You Know

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15

 That is what a Bible school is for. Approved workmen, unashamed, able to handle the Word rightly.

An application will not make a workman. Only God does that, by grace, through His Word. But knowing a student helps you train him. You teach the man in front of you, not a name on a list.

So build the application. Ask for the facts, the testimony, the call, the references, and the record of prior studies. Find the exam. Open the file. Keep it well.



Then teach with patience, and trust God with the growth. Know them. Train them. Send them. That is the work, and it is worth doing well.