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Best Christian Gap Year Programs – Maybe you’re just about to graduate from high school, and you’re not quite sure what to do. You know you want to live your Christian faith, but you’re not sure how best to do it. College? Work? Service? You may also be the parent of a loved one of a student in that very same situation. You want your child to go to university or follow their dreams, but you might also feel that they would benefit from an intentional pause between high school and the start of their adult life.

Well, a gap year—with a specific Christian bent—could be just the ticket to help you or your student follow their own compass and find their path in life.

In the not-so-distant past, gap years were kind of maligned in American culture. They seemed, to people who didn’t understand, like something that “lazy kids” did or something that only applied to students who didn’t have the focus necessary to go straight from high school into work or college.

Today, however, we understand better just how important it is to take care of our mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being alongside our physical health.

Looking for Christian colleges? Check out the .

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The most rigorous study of the effect of gap years, conducted by Robert Clagett at Middlebury College in Vermont, showed that “gap year alumni had significantly higher GPAs than originally predicted for their freshman years, an effect which held throughout their four years at school. Gap year alums also held a disproportionate number of leadership positions on campus,” .

Those findings were even more pronounced for students who were at the lower end of the grade point scale, demonstrating that the benefits of a very “intentional pause” between high school and college (or mid-college or between undergrad and grad school) can have huge benefits for gap year participants.

The list of the following Christian gap year programs will help you find the right program to help you develop in your faith—but to pursue your highest calling as an individual serving Christ.

If you want to check out more generalized gap year programs, check out our list of the 23 Best Gap Year Programs for 2025.

Best Christian Gap Year Programs

1)

• Designed for 17-22-year-olds to discover identity in the city of Denver.
• Claim to be “the most affordable Christian gap year program in America:” It is $14,000 for the full 8-month program or $7,000 for 4 months.
• Groups are kept intentionally small enough for participants to have engagement with staff, visiting teachers, and each other.

2) 

•  18-hours of accredited college-level coursework. Biblical worldview education, one-month serving overseas in Brazil, leadership training, and vocational understanding all offered in a 9-month program.
• Leadership training in corporate offices of Chick-fil-A and 1:1 and group coaching.
• Located in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The campus is surrounded by Callaway Gardens resort and F.D. Roosevelt State Park. Offers students with outdoor and recreational activities.

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• Campuses situated in five distinct locations: Manheim, PA; Marietta, SC; Upper Tract, WV; Buffalo, NY; and Morris, PA
• Earn up to 27 college credits during this 9-month residential program.
• Curriculum includes travel, service, classroom learning and personal mentorship. All while launching “servant leaders who live out their Christian faith in every area of life.”

4) 

• World Race serves students ages 17–20 in a 9-month program.
• Students travel to three countries to serve alongside international base teams and strategic ministry partners spreading the Gospel and meeting material needs of communities.
• Students can earn college credit through College of Athens, an accredited Christian college.

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• Doe River Gorge’s Exponential gap year is a Bible-based program “designed to help you discover your abilities and passions” while building a foundation for your faith.
• This 9-month program combines outdoor adventure activities and training with teaching of foundational elements of the Christian worldview.
• Located in Hampton, TN. Students learn self-discipline and experience community while earning up to 11 college credits through Bryan College.

6)

• Vanguard claims its status as the “only Christian, liberal arts gap year program” in which students study the big questions of the Christian faith in a curious, motivated environment.
• Students cultivate skills through outdoor adventures, inner immersion, backpacking, and more.
• Vanguard has planned college visits, work rotations, and mission experiences. It also has a study component to help students prepare for what’s next.

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• Located in the Pocono Mountains in Kunkletown, PA, Touch the World helps students develop a close-knit community through spiritual formation, self-discovery, and intentional discipleship.
• The program culminates in a month-long global mission immersion with a Touch the World ministry partner.
• The option to pursue 30 college credits is available through Anchor Christian University.

8) 

• Summit’s program contains an interesting structure: students spend the first semester on an inward journey, “removed from the chaos of the world” and are challenged in theology, critical thinking, community life, and practical living.
• The second semester takes students on the road where they live in retreat, “sequestered in an urban environment” where they put into practice what they learned in the first semester.
• The program is located in Manitou Springs, CO.

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• Word of Life’s gap year program is structured around “biblical coursework, discipleship, community, and hands-on ministry” that prepares students for their future.
• Word of Life is a non-profit evangelistic organization that has run Bibles Institutes, Camps, Youth Ministries, and International Ministries since 1940.
• Students have the choice of participating in one of six different international locations: Pottersville, NY; Hudson, FL; Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada; Jeju City, South Korea; Hungary; and Uganda.

10) 

• Walkabout’s gap year is run through Camp Eagle Adventure Campus in Rocksprings, TX, and takes students on adventure trips in the desert climate of the American southwest.
• Trips include: backpacking in San Juan National Forest, rock climbing at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Kayaking on the South Pecos River, and many more multi-sport and mission trips.
• Students can earn up to 12 college credits through a partnership with Colorado Christian University.

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• Cairn provides “dynamic one-year accredited university experiences perfect as a gap year after high school or to build a foundation for further study”.
• With the OneLife Institute partnership, participants study the Bible in-depth and in community while developing a biblical worldview.
• The Camp-of-the-Woods LIFT program allows students to earn college credit while taking classes.

12) 

• Adelphia Christian Gap Year is located at the Lake Retreat Camp near Seattle, WA for students ages 18–26.
• The program is unique in that students pay $0 in tuition and board—all costs are covered by a work-study program.
• The program includes practical bible classes, dorm life and community, lake views, and work experience that pays for tuition and living costs.

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• Located in Silver Lake, MI, the Ascent Gap Year provides students with a “short-term, full-time ministry experience”.
• Trained staff equip students with personal and professional goal setting, character and leadership development, biblical studies and worldview formation, and more.
• There is an optional Ranch Elective that lets people passionate about horses to help with daily barn chores, ranch accommodations, and other activities.

14) 

• Youth With a Mission San Francisco is part of a larger YWAM International family of ministries.
• The San Francisco gap year experience is a discipleship training school consisting of three parts: two 10-week sessions and one 2-week session.
• The three phases teach students to “recognize God’s voice, the character of God” and how to shape a biblical worldview while confronting “spiritual warfare”.

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• Spruce Lake is a small, rather exclusive gap year program that accepts only 12 participants each year, ensuring an intimate, personalized experience.
• The experience includes travel, community service, and participatory learning.
• These experiences can transfer directly into ministry and vocational opportunities, or they can help you launch into the next steps of your education and career.

16) 

• Compass Bible Institute is a 30-credit gap year certificate program “designed to prepare high school graduate ages 17–24 to live like Christians in an increasingly hostile world”.
• Courses provide biblical and theological training in an immersive, ministry-focused environment.
• The program also offers study trips to the east coast in the U.S. and Israel.

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• The Kaléo program is an eight-month leadership program sponsored by Camp Qwanoes and Briercrest College located in Saskatchewan, Canada.
• Students immerse in front-line ministry and a West Coast adventure while studying fully-accredited academics.
• The program includes leadership training, community, outdoor adventure, and ministry in camp, local churches, and more.

18) 

• Tentmakers’ Year on Mission program is a year in which students prepare to live “a life on mission” by building confidence, competence, worth, and lifelong friends.
• The year begins with Tentmakers’ 40-Day Leadership Training Experience (which can also be completed as a standalone experience) in which students are equipped with 12 discipleship and leadership skills.
• The program continues with 10 months in community under a local church where students work with a trainer-coach in the community for ministry opportunities, participate in domestic or international mission trips, and participate in an additional component called Leadership Quest, which builds leadership skills.

Best Christian Gap Year Programs – Additional Resources

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