Local License Introduction
Institute for Ministerial Training and Leadership Development
Minister’s Local License Course
Introduction to the course and a video presentation by Bishop Lambert W. Gates, Sr. about the vision of the Pentecostal Church of the Apostolic Faith International.
This introductory course provides catalog links to purchase all required courses, links to the courses after purchasing them, a tracking method to watch your progress and the link to print the transcript that is required by each district’s board.
 
Acts
Course Description:
“From the beginning of the modern Pentecostal movement, the Book of Acts has played an outsized role. It was to Acts the pioneers turned when they were keen to find out what the earliest Christians believed and how they lived out their faith. Originally known as the Apostolic Faith movement, the movement’s first leaders were intent on restoring the church to its original roots. Convinced that Christianity had lost its way, they looked to the Book of Acts for the original pattern for the church and were determined to follow its path. Today’s Oneness Pentecostals (or as they are often known—Apostolics) continue on this same path.
A synergistic relationship grew between the earliest Pentecostals’ reading of Acts and their spiritual experiences. Each built on the other. They began by reading Acts and soon discovered key elements of the first church were missing from the contemporary church. They then sought the missing experience, which in turn opened them up to a better understanding of Acts.” (from the Author’s Preface for The Handbook on the Book of Acts).

Text Book Description: Handbook on the Book of Acts by Robin Johnston
In this handbook, the author “thoroughly examines how we should read and study Acts so as to comprehend and fulfill the purposes for which God has given it to the church. Employing concepts in contemporary scholarship, the author has written in a way that is understandable to all students of the Bible. This handbook is an excellent introduction to the significance, meaning, and content of an important portion of the Word of God.” (from the foreword by David K. Bernard).

Biblical Interpretation
Course Description:
Our understanding of the Bible is the foundation for everything we believe and practice. The principles and methods of scriptural interpretation that we choose, consciously or unconsciously, will significantly influence what we believe. Therefore, it is important for us to examine how we interpret the Bible and to justify the means that we employ.
This course affirms that the Bible is completely true and that God expects us to believe it and apply it to our lives today. Since we accept the authority of Scripture, we should base our principles of interpretation on Scripture.  We start with an understanding that the Bible is God’s Word, based on internal and external evidence. With this foundation, we look to the Bible itself for guidance as to how God expects us to understand it.

Text Book Description: Understanding God’s Word by David K. Bernard
Understanding God’s Word discusses the interpretation of Scripture, addressing questions such as the following: How can we interpret the Bible properly? Is there a distinctive Apostolic Pentecostal approach to reading Scripture? How should the Bible be used in preaching, teaching, and personal.

Preaching I
Course Description:
Jonathan McClintock presents preaching from the human perspective, skillfully introduces the topic with solid commentary, and then illuminates it with the experiences and accumulated wisdom of those who have lived the preacher’s life.
Text Book Description: Life Preaching by Jonathan McClintock

Featuring interviews with preachers such as Tom Foster, Stan Gleason, T. F. Tenney, Claudette Walker, Raymond Woodward, and many more, The author “presents preaching from the human perspective based on interviews with some of the outstanding preachers of our day. The author skillfully introduces the topic with solid commentary, and then illuminates it with the experiences and accumulated wisdom of those who have lived the preacher’s life. It is as if you could travel the country and spend time with some of the very best preachers of the Oneness world and learn from them the fundamentals of the most important part of your ministry.”  From the foreword by Jerry Jones.