Christ Bible Institute

Christ Bible Institute (CBI) is not just one single thing. It consists of several different ministries. These ministries have different purposes, but they work together to advance the overall vision of CBI. That three-part vision is

In 2011, Christ Bible Institute relocated from a suburb to the center of downtown Nagoya, Japan’s third-largest city after Osaka. You can walk from Nagoya’s central station (and the bullet train) to the CBI building in just five minutes. This new location has opened many new opportunities for ministry.

Following are just a few of the component ministries of Christ Bible Institute. There are others, and more are in development.

Christ Bible Seminary

The first—and the central—component of CBI is Christ Bible Seminary (CBS). Because of CBS’s importance and because of the similarity in names, CBI and CBS are often confused. Christ Bible Seminary is a graduate-level divinity school preparing young Japanese for ministry as pastors, teachers, missionaries, counselors, youth workers, etc. The seminary is grounded in Reformed theology but is not a denominational institution.

Students come from a variety of denominational backgrounds—Presbyterian, Baptist, Wesleyan, independent, and other traditions—as do the school’s instructors. While most students are Japanese and most courses are taught in Japanese, we deliberately welcome limited numbers of qualified students from other countries.

Christ Bible Seminary offers Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees and a one-year Certificate in Christian Studies. It is an associate member of the Asia Theological Association and is working toward accreditation with that body. CBS has sister relations with Reformed Theological Seminary and Covenant Theological Seminary and has been greatly blessed by visiting faculty from these and many other institutions.

At Christ Bible Seminary we strive for a balance among heart, head, and hands. Every student takes grace-based spiritual formation courses in order to lay a sturdy foundation of humility, repentance, gratitude, and love. Courses are academically rigorous because we want our graduates to know the Bible, the original languages, and the lessons of Church history in order to be able to articulate the faith and to correct error. Finally we want our graduates to have a kingdom-size vision of what God is doing in the world and the skills to answer His calling for them.

All Nations Fellowship

Apart from motivating and training seminarians to plant churches, Christ Bible Institute’s church-planting efforts go by the name All Nations Fellowship (ANF). We began ANF as an English-language service to meet the needs of foreigners living near CBI’s previous location. In addition it sought to model for churches in the area some best practices in church planting. Now services are fully bilingual, and ANF is preparing to plant its second campus in downtown Nagoya under Japanese leadership.

A disproportionate amount of evangelism occurs in church planting contexts as opposed to established churches. While many churches look inward, we want to keep ANF looking upward to the Lord and outward to the lost. We intend to continue planting churches in different areas around Nagoya—each with its own personality but united in Christ.

All Nations Fellowship also provides an opportunity for some seminary students to gain practical experience in church planting. Few pastors plant churches in Japan, but we hope to inculcate a vision for church planting among those who study with us.

Heart & Soul Café

After moving to its new location in downtown Nagoya, CBI opened Heart & Soul Café. The café is a safe space in the heart of the city where young people can go for counsel, tutoring, discipleship, Bible study, friendship, and of course a cup of coffee.

The café grew out of a quarterly event that CBI ran in a downtown theater. Those events were called, naturally enough, Heart & Soul. They provided young Christians all over Nagoya and central Japan a chance to come together for worship, sound biblical teaching, and fellowship. Many a twentysomething who came was the only young person in his or her church. The events gave them a chance to connect with other young Christians and a place to bring friends for a clear gospel message. The events were really appreciated, but what about all of the weeks between events? This question led us to make Heart & Soul not only an event but also a place.

Heart & Soul Café has become a spot where many of our ministries intersect. It is a place where seminary instructors hang out with students, where seminarians share the gospel with non-Christians, where short-term missionaries disciple young believers, and where mothers who bring their toddlers to CBI’s “Baby English” classes pour out their hearts to CBI staff.