About The Institute

The Blue Ridge Institute for Theological Education (BRITE) serves the church in all branches of Protestant Christianity by preparing its students to be more faithful and effective church members and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. The institute seeks to accomplish this by teaching and equipping its students through a program of graduate level theological education, a variety of training seminars, courses, and conferences, with all content based upon the authority of the inerrant Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Bible, and committed to the Reformed faith.

A foundational desire for BRITE is that it would further the health of the church by cultivating biblically, historically, theologically-rooted churchmen and women who will take what they have learned in classroom, in internship, and in mentoring, and inculcate those same priorities in the life of their own local congregation—thus further bolstering the health and vitality of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ for generations to come.

BRITE serves the local and regional church by offering courses, training, and seminars of interest to laypeople in order to equip them for more effective service in their local congregation.

BRITE serves the institutional church by offering formal education to future ministers for whom traditional seminary may not be an option.

BRITE serves the global church in theological education and training by partnering with likeminded churches and missions agencies in advancing our common goal of robust biblical & theological training for all of Christ’s church.

QUICK FACTS:

– Established in 2017.

– An IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization.

– Headquartered in Roanoke, VA with easy access to the Roanoke Airport and Interstate 81.

– Campus extension sites located in Virginia in Radford, Lynchburg, and Charlottesville; and in Tennessee in Knoxville/Oak Ridge and Kingsport/Bristol.

– Degree Programs: Certificates and various masters degree programs are offered by BRITE, built around a traditional seminary curriculum. BRITE is authorized to operate as a degree-granting religious institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Degree programs are set to be validated through professional academic agencies. More information available here.

– Commitments: personal mentorship in study and pastoral training; assisting local church leadership in offering training and study opportunities; accessible and affordable theological education; academic rigor in the study of Holy Scripture and branches of theological studies.

– Purpose: advanced study, training in scholarship, pastoral refreshment, fellowship in theology, and equipping area churches and church members with deeper biblical and theological study in an age of theological poverty and anemia.

– Affiliation: Unaffiliated with a particular church denomination, BRITE partners with academic and ministry organizations in the pursuit of our shared goals, and serves churches especially within the Protestant tradition.