One Lord Bible Institute Is a Privately Held Educational Entity That Functions As an Outreach

B I B L E I N S T I T U T E

About Us

THE FOUNDER

One Lord Bible Institute is a privately held educational entity that functions as an outreach ministry of Wheatfields Chapel. The educational model is designed to offer low cost, high quality Biblical training. Dr. Stephen E. LaFleur is the founder/president.

Dr. LaFleur is pastor of Wheatfields Chapel, a small rural church seven miles north of Globe, AZ. He has served on other ministry staff positions in Texas and Louisiana over the past 30+ years. His educational background includes a BA from LeTourneauUniversity in Longview, Texas, a MA from LibertyUniversity in LynchburgVirginia, and a ThD from Slidell Theological Seminary in Slidell, Louisiana. He has been an instructor, adjunct professor, dean, director of education, or consultant for private and public colleges since 1978.

In addition to his duties at OLBI and Wheatfields Chapel, Dr. LaFleur is the founder/executive director of the Globe Gospel Music Association, is the creator of the Facebook group, “Pastors in Prayer” and is active in both on-line radio and public television. His Outmate Outreach Prison Ministry newsletter, “The Transformer”, goes out to inmates in over 40 prisons in Texas and surrounding states. He is a published author, corporate trainer and motivational speaker.

THE EDUCATIONAL MODEL

As a product of private education, Dr. LaFleur has a passion for teaching. His style is of a Gestalt nature, as he constantly provides information that allows the student to make up their own mind and come to rational decisions about issues. The concept of OLBI is to accomplish the same – to provide the student of God’s Word with sufficient documentation on a variety of subjects in order for them to not only accept the principles, but also to apply them to their lives.

The delivery method of all OLBI courses is by email. Some courses are in narrative form, however, most are in outline form, allowing the student to utilize their Bible and other online references materials to document and validate the learning process. The unique testing system relies on a “proficient or retake until proficient” approach to learning rather than relying on standard “A-B-C” or “4.0 – 3.0 – 2.0” grading systems which simply allow the student to regurgitate the material for test, quickly forgetting as they move on to new material.

With the proficiency system, the student moves forward when the material is mastered, regardless of how long or short time frame is needed. Each individual course has material included in the comprehensive exam required for graduation. The end educational result is a “personal ownership” of all material, the ability to research additional material on the topic and most important, the facilitation of application in ministry.

All students will be required to complete a “Comprehensive Proficiency” covering all aspects of their program. Selected students may have their work included as part of future programs.

Long-term plans for the institute include upgrading from the Diploma program to an Associate program and eventually, securing acceptance status with another four year institution that will facilitate programs at the Bachelors level and beyond.

ACCREDITATION

OLBI is not accredited, and has no plans to pursue any type of accreditation for several particular reasons: (1) to keep our expenses low, enabling OLBI to maintain its very low tuition rates – pursuit of accreditation would require a dramatic increase in costs passed on to the student; (2) to maintain doctrinal autonomy, and (3) to continue the utilization of OLBI-educated faculty to ensure theological and philosophical consistency with the doctrinal statement and mission of OLBI. Pursuit of accreditation would make this increasingly difficult.

Finally, we believe the quality of OLBI programs is evident, and OLBI graduates will be distinguished by their maturity, understanding, and skill in exegetical and expositional disciplines. We believe our programs are of the highest quality, and we are committed to continuous improvement in the academic realm.

ONE LORD BIBLE INSTITUTE 2011