Accreditation Spectrum School of Ministry is accredited under TRACS, the American Federation of Colleges and Seminaries, and the State of Florida to provide educational programs to prepare students for religious vocations as ministers, professionals, or laypersons. A portion of the accreditation statement from TRACS is included below. Please contact our Dean, the Rev. Joe Scott, for further information about our accreditation. Standards and Evaluative Criteria
1.1 The institution must have a Biblical Foundations Statement that includes
affirmations of tenets such as the following:
1.1.1 the Trinitarian nature of God;
1.1.2 the full deity and humanity of Christ;
1.1.3 the inerrancy and historicity of the Bible;
1.1.4 the divine work of non-evolutionary creation including persons in God's
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image;
1.1.5 the redemptive work of Jesus through his death and resurrection;
1.1.6 salvation by grace through faith;
1.1.7 the Second Coming of Christ;
1.1.8 the reality of heaven and hell;
1.1.9 the existence of Satan.
1.2 The Biblical Foundations Statement of the institution must be readily available
and included in appropriate official publications.
1.3 Students must be required to read and respect the institution's Biblical
Foundations Statement and be provided with the means to understand it.
1.4 Board members, administrators, and faculty must be in agreement with the
Biblical Foundations Statement of the institution.
1.5 The Board must approve the Biblical Foundations Statement, and official
documents must include a policy regarding its assessment and measures by
which it can be revised.
In the institution's Biblical Foundations Statement, the TRACS Biblical Foundations Statement
should be affirmed as a general model, but it is not expected to be used verbatim. TRACS offers
the following tenets:
The Bible. The unique divine inspiration of all the canonical books of the Old and New
Testaments as originally given, so that they are infallibly and uniquely authoritative and free
from error of any sort in all matters with which they deal, scientific, historical, moral, and
theological.
The Trinity. The triune, Godhead—one eternal, transcendent, omnipotent, personal God
existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Father. God the Father, the first person of the Divine Trinity, is infinite Spirit—sovereign,
eternal, and unchangeable in all His attributes. He is worthy of honor, adoration, and
obedience.
The Son. The Perfect, sinless humanity and the absolute, full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ,
indissolubly united in one divine-human person since His unique incarnation by miraculous
conception and virgin birth.
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead who convicts, regenerates,
indwells, seals all believers in Christ, and fills those who yield to Him. The Holy Spirit gives
spiritual gifts to all believers; however, the manifestation of any particular gift is not required as
evidence of salvation.
Historicity. The full historicity and perspicuity of the biblical record of primeval history,
including the literal existence of Adam and Eve as the progenitors of all people, the literal fall
and resultant divine curse on the creation, the worldwide cataclysmic deluge, and the origin of
nations and languages at the tower of Babel.
Redemption. The substitutionary and redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sin of the
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world, through His literal physical death, burial, and resurrection, followed by His bodily
ascension into heaven.
Salvation. Personal salvation from the eternal penalty of sin provided solely by the grace of
God on the basis of the atoning death and resurrection of Christ, to be received only through
personal faith in His person and work.
Last Things. The future, personal, bodily return of Jesus Christ to the earth to judge and purge
sin, to establish His eternal Kingdom, and to consummate and fulfill His purposes in the works
of creation and redemption with eternal rewards and punishments.
Biblical Creation. Special creation of the existing space-time universe and all its basic systems
and kinds of organisms in the six literal days of the creation week.
Satan. The existence of a personal, malevolent being called Satan who acts as tempter and
accuser, for whom the place of eternal punishment was prepared, where all who die outside of
Christ shall be confined in conscious torment for eternity.
B. Purpose and Objectives
The institution must state clearly and concisely its specific mission and purpose, one which is
appropriate for Christian higher education within the general scope of postsecondary
education. The statement of purpose evolving from the mission defines the distinctive role and
intention of the institution and provides the basis on which students are received and for which
they are educated. The purpose statement must be used as a basic guide in planning,
development, evaluation, policy-making, and all other institutional functions.
The mission and purpose must set forth the specific educational role of the institution with
regard to its intended target groups. Educational goals are to be formulated which are (1)
consistent with and imply the institution's philosophical and ethical stance; (2) consistent with
its academic level and the nature of post secondary education, and (3) consistent with and
following from its Biblical Foundations Statement. There are certain general objectives that
characterize higher education. The following are examples of such general objectives, framed in
broad terms:
To increase the student's interest in intellectual and social values.
To discover, preserve, advance and transmit knowledge.
To develop students who exhibit sound character, effective citizenship and
professional competence.
To encourage the pursuit of life-long learning.
There are certain objectives of distinctly Christian education that must also be addressed in the
purpose statement. These include: (1) Worship is central in the life of the institution and its
members. (2) Christian education, when prudently achieved, results in the internalization of
Christian values (beyond rote and mechanistic compliance with set rules )--resulting in a life of
prayer, of faith, of sound character and of spiritual values including study of the Word of God,
personal piety, and devotion; (3) Christian education will clearly result in dedicated, caring
Christian service extended toward other persons, especially those who are socio-economically,
physically, and spiritually oppressed or disadvantaged--a loving reach to others. Christian
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institutions must seek to develop these kinds of dedicated, responsible, and caring persons. (4)
Christian institutions will seek to incorporate within their curriculum an integrated body of
knowledge that appropriately includes the content of scripture, justifies its inclusion, and places
knowledge within a Christian worldview.
The institutional purpose statement serves as a frame of reference for decision-making in
determining operational policies. Educational programs and all other operations of an
institution are to be clearly related to the purpose of the institution. Specific objectives are
adopted to implement the stated purpose of the institution. A program of outcomes assessment
must be developed to allow the institution to measure and demonstrate how effectively the
purposes are being accomplished. Purpose and objectives must give direction to all the
institution's educational activities and to its admission policies, selection of faculty, allocation of
resources, and overall planning. Human, financial, and physical resources must be adequate to
ensure that the purpose is being achieved.
TRACS requires member institutions to pursue their established educational purpose. An
institution is, therefore, evaluated in terms of the achievement of stated purpose and objectives.
The integrity of the institution is measured by its demonstrated progress toward fulfilling its
purpose. Appropriate publications must accurately communicate the purpose and mission. It
is important that the institution review its statement of purpose periodically to ensure that it
continues to provide an accurate portrayal of the institution and describes goals that are
attainable to a reasonable degree.
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