It isn’t easy choosing a theological seminary.

With almost 200 seminaries to choose from in the United States, the luxury of choice can actually be problematic. There are no standardized quick facts sheets that let you easily compare one seminary to another, so it usually takes a lot of digging to properly vet out if a school is right for you.

To make it easier to choose the right theological seminary, we’ve created a list of prominent U.S. seminaries that can be compared by denomination, location, and cost.

AMG Publishers offers a NASB Key Word Study Bible with an annotated Strong’s Hebrew-Greek dictionary built in. The NASB is considered to be the most literal translation among all of the 20th-century English Bible translations.

Based on the 1901 American Standard Verision, The New American Standard Bible (NASB) began translation in 1960 and was completed by 1971 with the most recent edition released in 1995. It is esteemed for its word-for-word reliability and fidelity to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Of course, this also challenges the average reader’s comprehension.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

This isn’t classified as a large print Bible, but the type size is very generous. The type size is complemented by extra spacing between lines and wide margins for notes, which gives a very breathable, easy-to-read study experience. However, one downside of these unconventional layout proportions is the design aesthetics aren’t tight and polished, which can make the Bible seem cheap. The type is black with the words of Christ in red.

The cover is a rugged black genuine leather. While the leather has deep grooves, it still bends nicely even fresh out of the box. The Smyth-sewn binding will help it last through rigorous study. And it comes with one black ribbon marker and a printed bookmark referencing the Key Word Bible’s grammatical codes.

The paper is thin and waxy with modest gold-gilded edges that seem a bit less bold than other gold gilded Bibles.

Aside from having an annotated Strong’s Hebrew-Greek dictionary built in, the Key Word Study Bible also features extensive commentaries, a concordance, color maps, and wide margins for notes.

Translation: New American Standard (NASB)
Publisher: AMG Publishers
ISBN: 0899577539
Language: English
Cost: $79.99

Cover: genuine leather (black)
Binding: Smyth-sewn binding with 1 black ribbon marker
Pages: 2,156 pages with gold gilded edges
Type: black type with Christ’s words in red
Dimensions: 8″ x 2.1″ x 9.9″
Special Features: an annotated Strong’s Hebrew-Greek dictionary, commentaries, concordance, color maps, and wide margins

This post features a complimentary review copy and Amazon affiliate links.

What is the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement? TopNonprofits.com distinguishes them this way:

Mission Statement (What You Do): A one-sentence statement describing the reason an organization or program exists and used to help guide decisions about priorities, actions, and responsibilities.

Vision Statement (Desired End-State): A one-sentence statement describing the clear and inspirational long-term desired change resulting from an organization or program’s work.

For this list, we’ll look at 50 church mission statements collected from churches notable for their size, influence, or communications ability. Details on how this list was compiled can be found by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

For examples of vision statements, check out 30+ examples here.

General Findings

• The best mission statements are clear, memorable, and concise.
• Church mission statements are often much too long to remember.
• The average length of the church mission statements here is a full 18.5 words compared to only 15.3 on Top Nonprofit’s 50 Example Mission Statements
• The shortest contains only 2 words (Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale)
• The longest mission statement from the this list contains 66 words (Hopewell Missionary Baptist)
• A number of churches base their mission (and/or vision) statements around the great commission, but see the difference between Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale (2 words) and Second Baptist Church’s 42 word versions.

50 Example Mission Statements

City of Grace (Phoenix, AZ): Loving people to life (4 words)

Westover Hills (San Antonio, TX): Making New, Making Great (4 words)

The City Church (Kirkland, WA): To show you who Jesus is (6 words)

Biltmore Baptist (Arden, NC): Making disciples of Christ (4)

Calvary Chapel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL): Making Disciples (2)

Church of Christ the King (Brighton, England): In Brighton. For Brighton (4)

City on a Hill (Melbourne, Australia): Knowing Jesus & Making Jesus Known (6)

Mars Hill (Seattle, WA): To plant churches and make disciples (6)

Christ Fellowship (Miami, FL): To make disciples of all nations (6)

Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX): To Reach Up, Reach Out, and Reach In (8)

Highpoint Church (Memphis, TN): Love God, Love People, & Make Disciples (7)

Elevation Church (Matthews, NC): To see those far from God raised to life in Christ (11)

Celebration Church (Jacksonville, FL): Leading people to experience a God-First Life (7)

Prism Church (Pasadena, CA): To revive believers, reach friends, and renew culture (8)

Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL): Helping people find their way back to God (8)

Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY): Connecting people to Jesus and one another (7)

Church of the Highlands (Birmingham, AL): Reaching people with the life-giving message of Jesus (8)

Seacoast Church (Mt Pleasant, SC): We exist to help people become fully devoted followers of Christ (11)

Mosaic Church (Hollywood, CA): To Live by Faith, To be Known by Love, and to be a Voice of Hope! (16)

Glad Tidings (Omaha, NE): To lead all people from all backgrounds to real transformation in Christ (12)

LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK): To lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ (10)

Granger Community Church (Granger, IN): Helping people take their next step toward Christ…together (9)

Red Rock Church (Littleton, CO): To connect with God, connect with others, and connect others with God (12)

Spanish River Church (Boca Raton, FL): Loving God, loving people, and making disciples of Jesus everywhere we go (12)

Central Christian Church (Henderson, NV): To connect the unconnected to Christ and together pursue full devotion to him (13)

Crossroads Community Church (Cincinnati, OH): We are the “living letters” God uses to communicate his love to our city (14)

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (Ft Lauderdale, FL): We exist to declare and demonstrate the liberating power of the Gospel (12)

The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX): We are the voice and the hand that encourages people to change their lives with hope, comfort and peace (19)

Brooklyn Tabernacle (Brooklyn, NY): To spread the Gospel in our community by reaching out in love and respect to people from every nation (19)

Glide (San Francisco, CA): Supporting and uplifting the disenfranchised through unconditional love, acceptance and respect for over four decades (15)

Austin Stone Community Church (Austin, TX): To be a New Testament church existing for the supremacy of the name and purpose of Jesus Christ (18)

Potential Church (Cooper City, FL): Partnering with people to reach their God potential, as they connect with God, become like Christ and influence their world (20)

The Rock (San Diego, CA): Save, Equip, and Send out a highly motivated ARMY of believers who engage every segment of society while remaining true to our DNA (23)

Christ Church of the Valley (Peoria, AZ): To WIN people to Jesus Christ, TRAIN believers to become disciples, and SEND disciples out to impact the world (19)

The Church of the Resurrection UMC (Leawood, KS): To build a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians (16)

Missio Dei Church (Cincinnati, OH): We are a community of believers located in the urban core of Cincinnati, joining Jesus in His mission to redeem the people in our city (25)

Woodlands Church (The Woodlands, TX): To help people experience Christ rather than man’s creation of religion, so they can grow strong in Christ and take the Christ experience to the world (26)

Mars Hill (Grandville, MI): To live out the way of Jesus in missional communities and announce the arrival of His Kingdom by working for measurable change among the oppressed (25)

National Community Church (Washington, DC): To address poverty by assisting the poor, address disease by caring for the sick and address brokenness by transforming through reconciliation (21)

Hillsong (Sydney, Australia): To reach and influence the world by building a large Christ-centred, Bible-based church, changing mindsets and empowering people to lead and impact in every sphere of life (27)

Gateway Church (Southlake, TX): To bring people to Jesus and membership in his family, develop them to Christlike maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s name.” (36)

Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY): To build a great city for all people through a gospel movement that brings personal conversion, community formation, social justice and cultural renewal to New York City and, through it, to the world (33)

James River Assembly (Ozark, MO): Our mission is to help lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by creating a dynamic environment for authentic worship and effective communication while developing genuine community with each other (32)

New Hope Christian Fellowship (Honolulu, HI): To present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that turns non-Christians into converts, converts into disciples, and disciples into mature, fruitful leaders, who will in turn go into the world and reach others for Christ (38)

Second Baptist Church (Houston, TX): “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always.”
Matthew 28:19-20″ (42)

North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA): To lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.” We accomplish our mission by creating environments where people are encouraged and equipped to pursue intimacy with God, community with insiders, and influence with outsiders (35)

Cornerstone Church of San Diego (National City, CA): Turning the hearts of youth and families to God and eachother. Developing our God-given potential in order to win in every area of our lives. Advancing the Kingdom of God, first throughout our circles of influence, then the nations abroad (40)

Phoenix First Assembly (Phoenix, AZ): To be the church that displays the love of Christ and connects with people of all walks of life through our creative services, discipleship, outreach, and the establishment of multiple campuses by streaming our Weekend Experience services globally (38)

Hopewell Missionary Baptist (Norcross, GA): Fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) in helping people become fully functioning followers of Christ. Teach the tenets of Christianity. Equip believers for a significant ministry by helping them discover the gifts and talents God gave them (Ephesians 4:11-16). Obey the task that has been given to us by God as a beacon of salvation living out transformational grace through His Son Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:16)” (66)

HOW THE LIST WAS COMPILED

• Mission statements were gathered from organizations found on 3 of our other lists; 2013 Top Ranked Churches in America, Top 20 Largest Gigachurches in America, and 40 Great Church Websites of 2013.
• 30 were then selected for this list based on length and organized roughly from shortest to longest (based on number of characters).
• The number in parenthesis at the end of each line depicts the number of non-branded words included in their mission statement.
• In order to standardize the list, we removed things like “[Brand's] mission is” or “The mission statement of [Brand]” when it created redundancy.