The Summit Christian Leadership Center began as a “back of the napkin” dream in the spring of 2006. In August of that year, the CBTS Board of Trustees took the forward-thinking step of establishing the Summit Center even though our finances were tight.

Since that time, the SCLC has made great progress toward realizing its mission to supplement the training of our current students and provide additional training for alumni and like-minded pastors. The Center has also begun to produce income for the seminary as people learn about the work and get excited about being involved.
Ron Clark, Director of the Summit Center, spent the majority of his first eighteen months on our team becoming acquainted with the specific challenges of local church ministry and preparing training materials (Ron’s professional experience has come from the corporate world).

The months of interviews and the hard work of writing resulted in Sweetbriar Baptist Church, a week-long ministry simulation which is unlike any ministry training tool in our acquaintance. We piloted Sweetbriar Baptist with a group of experienced pastors in the fall of 2007. In January of 2008, our first group of master’s-level students took the simulation for a test drive and enthusiastically endorsed it. We are currently making plans to incorporate simulation training into the curriculum so all students will benefit from it before graduating.

Nick Yzzi joined the Summit Center as Director of Consulting in the spring of 2008. Most of you know Nick through his ministry as Calvary Baptist Church’s administrative pastor over the past couple of decades. Nick is presently working with us part time, but we all hope to grow Nick’s role into a full-time ministry in the near future.

The growth of the Summit Center will largely be fueled by outreach to church leadership teams via regional seminars designed for pastors and lay leaders, and the consulting ministry which we anticipate will grow from these seminars. The two-day seminars are scheduled to begin October 2008 and are currently slated for Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Connecticut, and Florida. We are also investigating the option of offering the same training via a webinar format on the internet.

If you would like more information on the upcoming seminars, please contact the seminary office at 215-368-7538, ext. 139 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  and ask to be placed on the mailing list to receive a brochure as the seminars in your area become available.