Why does AIM UK & Ireland charge students? It is a fair question since members of local congregations give faithfully to their church finances, and AIM is an additional cost. However, there are some good reasons for our fees. I briefly outline these below.
- Expenses: Administration costs; AIM US subscription (we pay a fee for using their materials under license); Travel and accommodation costs for speakers; venue hire; printing etc.
- Para-church attendance: It would not be fair for one church to foot the bill when people attend from many different churches
- We are underwritten by AIM US and based in Thames Valley, but we do not want to cost TV anything other than Malcolm’s time
- Thames Valley bears a cost in that some of Malcolm’s paid time for Thames Valley is allocated to AIM. In addition, we do not receive any funding from the ICCM churches across the UK and Ireland.
- Most of the teachers do not work for the church, and we will have guest speakers in speciality subjects who will need paying.
- Money should never be a reason for someone not to take the course. By discussing any financial challenges with us and the local congregation, we can always find a way to make the course affordable. In our opinion, it would be reasonable for local churches to pay all or part of the fees for students coming from their congregations because of the immense benefit of having members Biblically well-educated.