Students should see the Licensing Coordinator for specific deadlines.

Start of fall semester: As early in the fall semester as possible, students should complete the application (including references, photo, and ID verification) and register for the Licensing class.

Before October 17: meet with the Licensing Coordinator about connecting with your personal coach, in addition to the class, and receive coaching materials, which will be used as course textbooks.

October 24-December 20: Complete the Foursquare Licensing class.

January-March: Interviews conducted. You will want your coach to be in the interview with you, so find a time that will work for both of you, and discuss it with the Licensing Coordinator.

By the end of March (or as soon as possible): Turn in an appointment form. Once your appointment is settled, it will take about a month or so for all the paperwork and approvals to be completed by the district and the International Board.

Mid-May: If everything goes well, you should receive final notification and your new Foursquare license on or near the weekend of graduation. If you are not able to remain on this schedule, you can still receive your License. However, expect these delays or inconveniences:

Late Application:
** If you turn in your application after mid-September, you will not be able to register for the fall Licensing class, but will need to find an individual coach in your local church. It is often difficult to connect with someone at your church who has time to work with you to the degree required for Licensing, which is why the class was developed.   ** If you do not apply through the college by October 17, you will lose the $100 scholarship from the National Church Office, and will need to apply through your local church district instead of through the college. The ARC is not able to process new applications in November and December due to the annual renewal process for ministers who are already licensed. It takes 4-6 weeks for them to process the paperwork, receive the results of your background check, and send the coaching materials. In addition, individual districts do not usually license as many licensing candidates as the college, so the process tends to take longer, reducing your chances of being licensed by graduation.

According to Foursquare’s policy, if you do not complete your application file within six months of beginning the process, you will have to submit all new references and application materials.

Late Interview:
** If you do not have your interview completed by the end of March, you will probably not be licensed by graduation, because it takes time for the ARC, the District where you are being appointed, and the International Board to review your file and make a final decision. ** If you do not have your interview completed by the end of April, you will have to have it scheduled through your local church district. It can take an indefinite amount of time for your district to receive your file and set up the interview – probably several months. Also, in some districts the Foursquare churches are much more spread out than in Southern California, so it can be more difficult to gather enough ministers for an interview.

Late Appointment:
** You can complete your coaching and interview before you know where you will serve, but it will probably take at least a month from the time you receive an appointment to when you are actually licensed.

If the process is not completed within two years of when you begin, you will have to reapply, and basically start over.

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