About Pathway Learning

We Help Underserved Church Leaders Access Seminary-Level Training

Pathway Learning is a nonprofit, global ministry that provides church leaders with affordable, high-quality, seminary-level training and resources in their own language and adapted to their culture.

We serve gifted and called leaders — pastors, church planters, missionaries, elders, and ministry leaders — who lack access to the training and tools they need to plant and renew healthy churches that transform lives and communities.

Our work exists to expand access without lowering the bar — delivering deep theological formation through flexible entry points designed for real ministry seasons.

Our Story

It began with a calling that couldn’t wait — and a leader who couldn’t leave.

Our founder, Steven Childers, was planting a church in a challenging urban neighborhood. The church was taking root. People were coming to Christ. Ministries were forming. But there was a problem: he was not ordained, and denominational leaders told him he would have to leave the church to pursue formal seminary training. If he left, the church would not survive.

By God’s providence, an uncommon path was opened — a rigorous, mentor-guided theological training model rooted in an older seminary tradition. Instead of leaving the field, he remained in ministry while completing disciplined study, formal examinations, and pastoral mentoring under seasoned leaders. The standards were not lowered. They were upheld. He was ordained. And the church lived.

Years later — after planting churches, serving as a seminary professor, and traveling globally — a pattern became clear. Around the world were thousands of called, gifted leaders faithfully serving churches they could not leave. What they lacked was not conviction or courage.

They lacked access.

Pathway Learning was born from that conviction: that God’s call should never be crushed by circumstance, and that rigorous theological formation must be brought to leaders where they already serve.

Our Approach

One Path. Many Entry Points

Pathway Learning is not a content library. It is a formation pathway.

We believe true leadership formation is long-term, communal, mentored, and embedded in real ministry. At the same time, we recognize that many leaders first encounter Pathway under pressure — searching for help in the middle of active ministry.

So we design flexible entry points without redefining the destination.

Leaders may begin by exploring resources independently. Over time, many move toward deeper commitment through structured courses, cohort communities, and mentored formation.

Communal, mentored formation remains our aim — but we begin by serving leaders in the real pressures and limits of their current season.

Our Content

Seminary-Level Curriculum.
Practical Application.

Our curriculum is created by seminary professors, systematic theologians, and experienced church planters. It meets academic standards used in accredited programs while integrating practical ministry training often absent from traditional seminary education.

Across Church Planting, Church Renewal, and Applied Theology tracks, we offer more than 30 structured courses intentionally sequenced into collections. Each course addresses a specific ministry domain — vision, preaching, discipleship, theology, leadership, mission, prayer, and more.

This is rigorous training. It is not simplified theology.

But it is delivered in a way that allows leaders to remain in ministry while they are formed for ministry.

Our Platform

Pathway Learning provides a flexible, integrated platform that equips church leaders, denominational partners, seminaries, and ministry networks to form leaders without requiring them to leave their ministries.

Our platform combines seminary-level curriculum, interactive digital learning, mentor-led cohort communities, customized learning contracts, and strategic partnerships. Leaders can engage formally through accredited programs, non-formally through denominational or church-based training systems, or informally through just-in-time resources — all while moving in the same formative direction.

The platform was crafted for access, for rigor, and designed for formation.

Our Leadership Team

  • Steve Childers

    FOUNDING PRESIDENT & CEO

  • Rev. Lyn Perez

    EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

  • Rev. Moses Han

    VP OPERATIONS & CURRICULUM

  • Rev. Steve Kang

    VP PRODUCTION & PARTNERSHIPS

  • Lori Ginn

    CONTENT DESIGNER

  • Nicholas Borimonoff

    MEDIA DIRECTOR

  • Randy Schwartz

    CURRICULUM DIRECTOR

  • Bettina Holland

    FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR

  • Alex

    MEDIA STRATEGIST & CONTENT DESIGNER

The Journey Continues

What We Are Doing Now

The global church is growing rapidly in places where access to rigorous theological training is limited. Many leaders are serving faithfully but lack affordable, seminary-level formation that strengthens both doctrine and practice.

We are expanding into Applied Theology and Spiritual Formation, helping leaders grow not only in knowledge, but in wisdom, character, and pastoral strength. We are also releasing more books alongside our courses, giving leaders trusted resources they can return to throughout their ministry.

At the same time, we are strengthening worldwide cohorts that connect leaders across nations and expanding partnerships with denominations, seminaries, and ministry networks to increase access without lowering standards.

Access opens the door.
Communal formation remains the goal.