Six Year Plan

Introduction

The Six Year Plan is a training program for alumni from SSM that feel called into full-time church ministry. The plan fully sponsors these individuals, providing a stipend and a seminary education, as they concurrently serve as full-time staff at SSM over the course of 6 years.

The plan was birthed out of the convictions of Phil Yang, former pastor at SSM and lead pastor at Grace Life Catonsville, as a way to provide consistent leadership at SSM (a transitory college ministry). The vision was to have older trained leaders that would be able to add significantly to the depth of the ministry's teaching and discipleship through their theological training and experience. The plan would also fulfill the role of giving opportunities and blessing those who wanted to take steps into full-time ministry.

In Fall 2017, Richard Meehan (Class of 2013) and Allen Jiang (Class of 2014) became the first graduates from Johns Hopkins University and SSM to enroll in the program. 

How does it work? 

Six Year Plan individuals serve during the academic year at Hopkins and SSM, providing pastoral leadership for the church, preaching, overseeing the various ministries over the course of 6 years. During the summers (and possibly during the semester, if online options are available), they take classes at a seminary paid by the program. Currently, we are partnered with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL at a reduced tuition rate.  The structure gives both theological training and practical experience in ministry concurrently. 

During the first two years, the trainees serve as interns in the church under the direct leadership and supervision of the current staff. As they progress, they take on the leadership of the church as older leadership transitions out.  While the plan is named the "Six Year Plan", it is not necessarily constrained to that number -- 5-6 years simply is generally the necessary amount to complete a full M.Div seminary degree at a part-time rate. It also represents our heart for alumni to stay longer and invest in college ministry beyond what is the norm.

How is it funded? 

The program is completely funded by alumni supporters and friends who have generously contributed to make the plan a reality. Our hopes are to raise up a consistent and stable base of alumni supporters for the Six Year Plan, not just to support specifically Richard and Allen, but to support future trainees of the program. 

In order to do this, we aim to raise $41,095 per person every year. The cost break down is as follows:

We ask monthly supporters to commit to supporting for 2 years at a time, understanding that supporting for 6 years is difficult for people to plan and that situations may arise. We are also open to one-time donations. 


*The Stipend is pre-income tax and pre-FICA tax. **The church must raise an additional 7.65% to pay FICA per person as an organization.

Become a Partner

Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us, through prayer and financially, so that we would be able to realize the vision of training generations of pastors and leaders from the Six Year Plan? 

Partner Financially

We are always looking for monthly partners to partner in any amount, from $10 a month upwards to $100 and more. 

Pray and Receive Updates

We send out quarterly updates from our ministry with prayer requests, if you'd like to be kept in the loop!