Creekside Church's ministry training pathway. Year 1 is a two-semester internship that grounds you in Scripture, forms your character, and trains you hands-on, one month, one book, one ministry skill at a time.
What is CreekU?
CreekU is Creekside Church's ministry training pathway, and Year 1 is the internship: a two-semester program at Creekside Church. Over 24 weeks, organized as six month-long intensives, each month pairs one great book, read together as a cohort, with weekly practical training and real hands-on ministry, lived out all year in College Ministry. It exists for one reason: to develop you into a spiritual leader, wherever God calls you.
Ministry as the calling of every believer, not the job of a few: men and women who keep their careers and pastor without a paycheck, alongside those called to serve the church vocationally.
CreekU prepares two kinds of pastors and leaders: the believer who keeps a career and shepherds people without pay, and the one called to serve the church as a vocation.
“To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” — Ephesians 4:12
How it works
Read Together
One book a month, split across the weeks, the whole cohort reading the same pages and learning the same skill at the same time.
Practice in Ministry
Live it out all year in College Ministry and hit a hands-on benchmark each week. Training you never act on stays theoretical.
Discuss & Grow
Post one theology discussion response each week, engage your cohort, and memorize one verse of Scripture at a time.
Be Commissioned
Pass two covenant reviews with your supervisor, then finish with a final commissioning into a lifetime of ministry.
The program at a glance
A two-semester, part-time commitment. Every intern serves all year in one ministry placement: College Ministry.
College Ministry
Every intern's placement: serve all year in College Ministry, going deep in one context rather than rotating through several.
10 Hours a Week
Sunday service, intern small group, College Ministry on Tuesdays, and a weekly study block.
To Develop You
This is not a pathway to a job at Creekside. It's an investment in you as a leader, pastor, missionary, or marketplace.
What's included
Everything you need to be formed is provided. Here's exactly what the program gives you:
All your books, provided
All six books you'll read together are given to you. You won't buy a single book.
Real teachers & mentors
Pastors and trained leaders teach, review your work, and walk with you personally through both semesters.
The learning portal
Your own login to this platform, with your weekly reading plan, training videos, benchmarks, discussions, and calendar in one place.
Weekly feedback
Every discussion and submission is reviewed. You get real, personal feedback on your growth, not a self-paced course you do alone.
A cohort & community
You're formed alongside a small group of committed interns, discussion, accountability, and friendships that last.
Certificate of completion
Finish the program and earn a certificate marking your completion of the full theological curriculum.
What you'll walk away with
This is a real investment of your time and your heart. Here's what that investment gives you in return:
- Real, practiced ministry skill, preaching, caring for people, discipling, and evangelism, grounded in solid doctrine.
- The ability to open the Bible and understand it in context, and to explain the gospel clearly and confidently.
- A stronger, more disciplined walk with God, habits of prayer, study, and devotion built over two semesters.
- Six excellent books on the church and ministry that become the start of a lifelong library, yours to keep.
- Personal mentoring from pastors who know you by name and are invested in your growth.
- Practical training to serve in your local church, lead a Bible study, disciple others, or pursue ministry.
- A certificate of completion and a community of fellow believers who walked it with you.
Your investment will not be wasted. You will finish these two semesters changed, grounded in truth and equipped to serve.
Who it's for
Anyone hungry to know God more, students, young adults, future pastors and missionaries, and everyday believers who want to be grounded in the truth. No seminary degree required. Just a teachable heart and a willingness to do the work.
Taught by Creekside's own pastors and staff
Nothing in CreekU is outsourced. Every lecture, podcast, and benchmark comes from the pastors and staff of Creekside Church, people who know this church, this city, and you.
Every lecture, by our pastors
The weekly teachings are recorded and taught by Creekside's pastors and staff, not by an outside school or a video library. You will know the people teaching you, and they will know you.
Bivocational and vocational, side by side
Some of the pastors teaching you serve on Creekside's staff full time. Others work full-time jobs in the marketplace and pastor on top of them. Both teach, both disciple, and both show you what the calling looks like in real life.
Discipled, not just taught
The same pastors who record the lectures meet with interns, lead the discussions, and walk through the benchmarks with you. Recent teachings include Pastor Jake on the heart of a shepherd, Corey O'Connell on walking with people in pain, and Pastor Wes Spencer on shepherding while working a full-time job.
Apply for Fall 2027
Applications for the Fall 2027 cohort are open now. Year 1 begins in August 2027. New applicants welcome.
Everything you will learn here is taught by Creekside's own pastors and staff, vocational and bivocational, who also disciple you along the way.
The application is free. This is a serious two-semester commitment, so we ask serious questions. Take your time and answer honestly and thoughtfully; this is how we get to know you and discern fit. There are no "right" answers, just real ones.
