InMinistry Introduction
Our goal and passion is to bring first class, graduate level, Christian education to ministry professionals, wherever they may be, without requiring them to relocate or put their ministry on hold, so that they can reach their full potential and further the kingdom of God.
We are not a correspondence program or like other fully distant programs. Bethel uses a "distributive" learning model, which incorporates both traditional classroom experiences along with distance "e-learning" via the Internet and related technologies. Students have quality face-to-face time with professors and fellow students twice a year during one or two week long on-campus sessions. The rest of the time, course work is done at a distance.
The program is designed for individuals who are already established in ministry and are eager to pursue applied graduate education, but are able to spend only limited time on the seminary campus. This program makes it possible to complete a Master of Divinity degree in five years of continuous enrollment, or a Master of Arts in Children's & Family Ministry or Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership degree in about three years of continuous enrollment. Other degree programs include the Master of Arts in Christian Thought and the Master of Arts in Global and Contextual Studies.
The program incorporates two types of courses. Approximately half of the courses include a week long on-campus session called an "Intensive" during the middle of the quarter. Students spend the first few weeks of the quarter doing preliminary work and interacting with classmates and the professor online. Then they gather on campus for a week of focused classroom time. After the Intensive, students return home and complete the remainder of the course using a variety of distance education methods. Other courses do not have an Intensive week and are carried out fully at a distance.
With this model, full time students take two Intensive courses twice a year, either during the Winter and Summer quarters, or during the Spring and Fall quarters. Then during the other quarters, students take one or two fully distant courses. This schedule results in students coming to one of Bethel's campuses (currently St. Paul or San Diego) for two weeks, two times a year .
Students have found this model and this program very rewarding. It is manageable within a current ministry setting. And it is flexible if a ministry setting changes. Students receive quality face-to-face time with instructors and connect with other full-time ministers like themselves, which result in a rich learning and growing experience.
Please check out the links below for more information about specific programs and Bethel Seminary in general. If you have any questions, please contact us. (For information on Bethel's residential degree programs, which are available on the San Diego, St. Paul, and East Coast campuses, please see Bethel Seminary's main Web site.)
