Understand the Model
See how Immerse pairs Northwest education with formation in your network, your churches, and each candidate's ministry context.
Northwest Partner Networks
Launch an Immerse pathway with Northwest.
Partner Networks helps your churches raise up pastoral leaders in context through local mentorship, accredited theological education, careful candidate discernment, and steady Northwest support.
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Launch path
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Partner roles
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Downloadable files
Prepare Your Network
Name the leadership need, appoint a local lead, prepare mentor teams, and identify candidates who may be ready for the path.
Move With Northwest
Work with your Northwest contact on fit, candidate readiness, application handoff, review rhythms, and the right downloads for each step.
How Immerse Works
Formation rooted in ministry context.
Immerse is Northwest's context-based theological education model. Students remain connected to real ministry while Northwest, your network, your churches, and your mentors help form and assess readiness over time.
Learning stays close to calling.
Northwest brings accredited education, outcomes, faculty support, and assessment structure while your network brings local relationships, mentor capacity, church support, and pastoral discernment.
- Local ministry becomes the formation context.
- Mentor teams support learning and reflection.
- Competencies make growth and readiness visible.
- Recommended candidates move into the Northwest application path.
Northwest In Your Network
A partner for church-based leadership pipelines.
Northwest does not replace your local relationships. It gives your network a structured way to help leaders grow where they are already serving, learning, working, and being mentored.
Northwest brings
Accredited theological education, Immerse structure, outcomes, assessment support, faculty guidance, and a quality framework.
Your network brings
Church relationships, candidate discernment, appointed leadership, mentor capacity, local accountability, and launch ownership.
Explore Fit
Is your network ready to begin a conversation?
These questions help your team name the leadership need, local ownership, mentor capacity, and candidate pathway before a formal launch decision.
Network readiness
Is there a real pastoral leadership need, a sponsoring relationship, and enough local ownership to begin building a pathway?
Appointed leadership
Who can coordinate churches, mentors, candidates, and Northwest as the pathway moves from conversation into launch planning?
Candidate readiness
How will your churches identify, interview, recommend, and support candidates before the Northwest application path begins?
Mentor capacity
Can local mentors provide formation, observation, feedback, and encouragement throughout a student's journey?
Launch Roadmap
Move from conversation to a quality-supported first cohort.
Phase 1
Explore fit and readiness
Begin with your Northwest contact and name the leadership need, network goals, church relationships, and likely candidate pathway.
- Clarify the leadership need your churches are naming.
- Identify the churches and leaders already leaning in.
- Name what your network must own locally.
Appoint Leadership
Put clear local ownership in place.
An appointed network lead bridges your churches, mentors, candidates, and Northwest. This role keeps the pathway moving, prepares people for next steps, and helps your network steward the pipeline over time.
View leadership resources
Build Mentor Capacity
Make local formation support visible.
Mentors help students connect learning, character, ministry practice, and calling. Northwest can help your network prepare mentors for clear expectations and a shared support rhythm.
View mentor resourcesCandidate Readiness
Discern readiness with care.
The candidate path begins with local discernment and Northwest-guided readiness conversations. A church or network identifies a potential candidate, Northwest helps assess fit and preparation, and recommended candidates move toward the formal application path.
Local discernment
Readiness conversation
Mentor preparation
Northwest guidance
Recommendation
Application handoff
Northwest guides the right next step.
Your Northwest contact will help your team understand which readiness conversations, downloads, and handoffs fit your stage so the process stays clear for leaders, mentors, and candidates.
View readiness resourcesQuality and Support
Build a pathway that can keep improving.
Trust grows when expectations are clear and review rhythms are steady. Northwest helps your network pay attention to student progress, mentor support, church engagement, pathway health, and the improvements needed for future cohorts.
Downloads
Files for each stage of the launch path.
Use these downloads as your network prepares. Start with the overview files, then use the role, mentor, assessment, and quality materials with your Northwest contact.
11 files available
Fit and readiness overview
Use these overview files to understand the candidate path, church support, assessment flow, and application handoff before deeper planning.
Good first read for network leaders, pastors, and launch conversations.Network lead role overview
A customizable role description for the person who coordinates churches, candidates, mentors, and Northwest.
Use this when your network is naming local ownership.Leadership launch guide
A first-year onboarding guide for the network lead, including orientation, church engagement, student pathway, and support rhythms.
Use this once Northwest and your network are preparing the launch structure.Mentor team handbook
A source handbook for mentor roles, formation practices, student support, assessment, feedback, and learning rhythms.
Use this as source material while Northwest confirms the current mentor-support pattern.Candidate communication templates
Use these templates for the handoff from church/network recommendation to assessment invitation and application recommendation.
Confirm sender, recipients, and timing with Northwest before using with candidates.Assessment-day interview packet
A working packet for assessment-day structure, testimony, teaching review, extended interview, observations, and assessor notes.
Use only once Northwest confirms the assessment-stage handoff for your team.Quality review materials
Use these materials to talk about program quality, student progress, mentor support, church engagement, and improvement over time.
Best used when your network is preparing to support a first cohort.Choose a lane to focus the library, or download the first-read overview to begin.
Support
Talk with Northwest about your next step.
Your Northwest contact can help your team understand fit, prepare local leadership, discuss candidate readiness, and use the downloads that match your stage.
Start a Network Conversation
Name the leadership need, church relationships, and local ownership your network already has in view.
Discuss Candidate Readiness
Work with Northwest to understand how candidates are discerned, recommended, and handed off to application.
Use the Right Downloads
Start with the overview files, then bring launch, leadership, mentor, assessment, and quality materials into the right conversation.