Going to Seminary

When I began my online seminary degree three years ago, I was a bit hesitant because I feared that the substance that the final degree – the actual paper I would receive – might not be as “weighty” in the minds of those who had received a traditional degree from a brick and mortar institution.  I also feared that places I might have opportunity to serve would not consider my Master of Divinity degree from an online institution a “real” degree.  I must admit that even now after completing my online seminary journey, I get questions from would-be seminary students about my experience at Rockbridge and inquiries for my evaluation of the value of the experience.  I am so happy when someone opens the door for me to talk about it.

My first response to these questions is an answer that I came to when asking myself whether or not I should pursure training online.  I had to come to grips with the “why” of my desire to go to any seminary. When I enrolled in Rockbridge, my call to vocational ministry had been clearly affirmed many times and I had over 15 years of ministry experience.  But I didn’t have any formal training to support the calling that was so clear in my life.  This training was not critical for me to continue ministry as I felt confident God would open doors for me to continue to be his servant.  Rather, the larger realization for me was my desire to learn more to be a more effective agent in His Kingdom work.

The other affirmation was my assessment of other training opportunities at my disposal.  When I considered my options for training as a man with a family, serving in a ministry that I was certain God did not want me to disengage, and a budget that did not include Masters level training – my options were limited to online offerings or some other type of distance learning.  To help assess these options, I sought the counsel of someone who both valued continuing education and was a product of the traditional brick and mortar learning experience: my senior pastor who holds several degrees including two masters and a doctorate from Vanderbilt.

His encouragement to me was the value of the learning experience – no matter what the final paper might suggest to others.  We looked deeply into the mission of Rockbridge Seminary as well as other opportunities that were available to me.  Our discovery was that the quality of the learning experience at Rockbridge would fit well my learning style and my available schedule to complete my training.  But even more importantly, we found that the driving force and purpose of Rockbridge founders was not to provide a piece of paper at the end of an agreed learning cycle.  Their calling was to provide quality biblical training that would prepare and equip ministers to serve God’s Kingdom effectively and efficiently.

Over three years later, I have absolutely no regrets about the choice I made.  Had I not enrolled in Rockbridge I would still be serving at my current church and I would continue to be affirmed in my calling – but I would not be as effective as I am now as a direct result of the investment I made in seminary and that it made in me.  My experience at Rockbridge has made a significant difference in how I approach ministry in the local church and even how I engage my faith as a believer.

I am also watching other traditional universities chase the online learning model as pioneers of online learning continue to set the pace and confirm its validity.  Although I believe that their motivation is driven as much by the opportunity of another revenue stream than anything else, the result for the learner is still positive.  I am thankful that Rockbridge and other quality institutions are continuing to set the pace that will give way for opportunities for learners to get training.  But more than that, I am so thankful for what it has provided in my life as a minister.  So what value do I place on my education from Rockbridge?  Invaluable.

OK everyone, time to help someone out. I was contacted by Dan and Chris who are missionaries in Poland. They have 2 daughters and are considering going to seminary. Below is a letter explaining their situation and they have asked for our help. So, please take a moment to read it and leave a comment for them. Thanks!

Dan (my husband) talked about going to seminary back in the States a few months ago. It was suggested that we also look in Europe and see what we find here. We have everything to set up house here, etc. We found a listing of accredited Seminaries at EEAA. Through there, we found Tyndale University. For an MDiv, it costs about 3700 Euro (about $5000) per year. We went last week to visit it, talk about living expenses, and see about the programs. The program appears to be very good, and they accepted and scholarshipped him about 50%. The living expenses are fairly high, probably about the same as Chicago or LA. Our outstanding problem at this time is our daughters, aged 13 and 15. Amsterdam has some Dutch schools which teach in English but for the two of them to attend, it costs about 12,000 Euro ($19,000) per year. We thought about taking out student loans to cover their tuition and I will work to cover most of our living expenses. We possibly could continue their education with the online school we have been using, but hope that if this option is available to them, that it would make it easier for them to transition into college. (So, we would have 2 years of education expense for Brittney and 4 for Melanie) They will continue giving us some form of assistance, possibly through the Dutch government or through the school itself, but first we would have to pay the first half.

If you have any ideas/suggestions about attending seminary overseas, scholarships, loans, etc., we would welcome any help or advice, good or bad. Some people might be interested in this university as well, since it is fully accredited and somewhat cheaper, especially if it is a couple (and can possibly stomach dorm life) or for single people.

Ok everyone… thoughts?

For those who have read about my experience with taking distance education seminary classes you might think that I am not a fan of them… Quite the contrary. I think they are great. In fact, here are 6 things I think are great about online and distance education programs for seminary:

1. Time – Are you a morning learner? A night owl who like to read at 2 a.m.? Well, the beauty of online and distance education programs is that you can take the class whenever works best for you. No longer are you bound to the school’s schedule. 8 a.m. class… Be gone! You now have the ability to chose when would be the best time for you to learn.
2. Pace – Taking seminary classes online or through distance education allows you to set your own pace. Most programs allow you up to 7 years to finish your degree… so, you set your own schedule. This is especially great if you are trying to save some money as you can put off the next class until you have the funds to pay for it… but be careful… 7 years will fly by before you know it. However, it is nice to know you have some time.
3. Money – Now, tuition and books will cost the same, but taking online an distance education classes for seminary will allow you the ability to study around your work. On a traditional campus the schedule is set by the school and your work must be set around that… not always good when you need a job to support your family. Taking distance classes allows you to work the hours your job gives and take classes when the time works for you… thus, you’re ultimately saving/making more money. Along with this is the fact that you are taking less classes at a time, so when tuition is due it is a much easier pill to swallow.
4. Context – If you’re like me there isn’/wasn’t a good seminary in your current town. This, most likely means that you are going to have to move… and that means leaving your church. The beauty of online or distance education is that you can continue to be involved and minister in your local church context. In fact, your classes will often open many new and exciting ministry opportunities in your church and community.
5. Focus – Unlike on a traditional class, most distance programs are done one class at a time. This allows you to focus all your energy on the information you are learning in the one class… theoretically leading to a greater retention of the material.
6. Relationships – Most distance programs (as best I understand) require that you have a mentor through your seminary experience. It is truly amazing to have a person (or couple people) who have been down this road and are seasoned in the ministry to help you along the journey. I cherish all the coffees and lunches I had with my mentors as I discussed the challenges and triumphs I experienced in my classes. If you’re program doesn’t require it, I highly recommend you get one on your own initiative… trust me, it will make the classes that much more rich!

So, I’m five days deep into taking Hebrew 1. To make the class harder the seminary has it as a winter session class (2 weeks) and it is done online! That’s right… online Hebrew.

Here is how it works:

The class has a CD that essentially contains a ‘web’ based class. Meaning the CD runs off your internet browser showing the pages that have been hard coded onto the CD. The CD has 2 sections. One section is the language section and the other is the software section. This class utilizes Logos Bible Software, so the software section has lessons dealing with how to use the program to study the original language… however the first couple lessons were more like, “this is a computer… to open the program double-click the…” which was a little annoying.

The language section is divided into 10 lessons. Each lesson covers different aspects of the language… from the alphabet, to grammar, to pronunciation. In the lesson you basically read about how the language works and then work to apply it. So, yesterday was personal pronouns (weeeee). So, I read all about how personal pronouns work in Hebrew and then did a lot of practice problems applying the lesson.

While the pages aren’t much to look at, they are very functional. Every time you see a word there is a button to click so that you can hear the proper pronunciation and make sure you are reading it correctly. The practice questions all have mouse-over effects that allow you to immediately check to see if you have the right answer.

Along with the class CD we are using Blackboard. This site is pretty common for distance education classes and it is pretty good… I feel like it could be a lot better, but it gets the job done. Specifically, this area acts as the actual classroom. In there are announcements from the professor and a classroom forum. In the forum the students and professor interact by asking questions and discussing class material. Even though part of your grade is class interaction, the forums are surprisingly well utilized (you can tell people aren’t just posting for the grade). I find myself checking the forum more than my email (and I check email a lot).

Finally, in Blackboard we have daily quizzes on the day’s material. We’ll also have a midterm and final.

In all, I was VERY skeptical to begin with… I had no idea if this was going to work… especially based on my previous record with online seminary classes… but I am actually enjoying the class format and feel like I am really starting to grasp the basics of the language.

I’ll try to post again towards the end of the class to let you know how it wrapped up and my final thoughts on taking a seminary Hebrew class online.

Going to seminary has always been a desire of mine. Well, maybe not always… but for a long while. I’ve even tried my hand a taking seminary classes online. In the end it never panned out for me. So, when and how did everything change for me? Well, the story goes something like this:

About 4 years ago my wife and I moved from the south to the not-quite-north. The move had lots of factors… FAR too many to go into here. But we packed the car and headed on the journey with a couple thousand dollars in the bank and an apartment waiting for us. The main reason we ended up in our city was because of a pastor and friend who had recently started a church was here and had mentioned that, at some point, there might be a job for me.

So, my wife and I started working off jobs and just scraping by. After abut a year I spoke with the pastor and discussed my desire to return to full time campus ministry (that is what I had been doing in the south for the 3 years prior to the move). We agreed that it was good timing and started to work towards me coming on staff. The one catch is that, as a campus minister, I had to go out and raise a financial partnership team. Some of you know what I’m talking about… for those who don’t, basically I went to lots of people (friends, family, friends or friends, and so on) and explained my passion to see college students impacted with the gospel. I then asked if they wanted to partner with me financially. And, low and behold, some did.

Now, the problem was that I was REALLY bad at the whole process. While I managed by God’s grace to get enough money to live, it was always tight and difficult… then we added little man… then a house… then sweetpea… then a mini van… over the years our expenses increased, yet income didn’t quite keep up. I was forced to work second jobs and long hours. It was always stressful… We were getting by, but we weren’t sure how long we could keep it up.

Finally, last summer we spent some serious time asking God what we needed to do. I could not see spending another year working 60-70 hours a week to just scrape by… not knowing if it would be a “good” month or a “bad” month. We felt like the grace might be up for this season of life. So, we asked God, “if not this… then what?”

Seminary.

It seemed like an odd answer. We can’t pay the bills now, how will we pay them there? How could this work?

Well, we prayed, talked to friends and family, and thought about it a lot. After about 3 months of consideration… I quit my job. Now, that sounds harsh, and it really wasn’t. My pastor was very supportive and agreed that this seems like the right thing at the right time.

So, here we are… 6 months later… according to our plans we should be packing boxes and preparing to move back south… none the less, that is not what seems to be happening.

So, that is how it went down for us. We’re still in the process. God used (uses) His word, our situations, our friends, and the passions he has given us to help us know where we need to be and what we need to do…

and, by the way, while the story might have sounded rough, I must make it abundantly clear that we have lived a very comfortable life and God has never left us unprovided for. There were times it might have been a little tough, but God has taken care of our every need and many of our wants… To Him I am grateful forever.

While tooling around the net looking for seminaries with online and distance education options I found a good bit of help from a post on the Asbury Theological Seminary web site.

The elements you bring to online learning are vital to the learning process. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you consider the possibilities of virtual learning:

• How well do I manage my time?
• How do I rate my reading & writing skills?
• How do I rate my computer skills?
• How do I learn best?
• Will I have the support of my family and friends?

In the post they break down these questions a little further. Certainly something worth checking our if you are thinking about going to online or distance education route for seminary.

While tooling around the net looking for seminaries with online and distance education options I found a good bit of help from a post on the Asbury Theological Seminary web site.

The elements you bring to online learning are vital to the learning process. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you consider the possibilities of virtual learning:

• How well do I manage my time?
• How do I rate my reading & writing skills?
• How do I rate my computer skills?
• How do I learn best?
• Will I have the support of my family and friends?

In the post they break down these questions a little further. Certainly something worth checking our if you are thinking about going to online or distance education route for seminary.

So, I figure it would be good to work on a list of seminaries offering online and distance education degrees. Now, keep in mind that almost every school that offers a distance education will require, at least, some residential classes. This list will only include programs that are accredited or are currently in the accreditation process, and allow you to complete 90% of your degree off campus:

• Reformed Theological Seminary Master of Arts in Religion (MAR)
• Fuller Theological Seminary Master of Arts in Global Leadership
• Covenant Seminary Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MATS)
• Liberty University (too many to figure out which ones are totally distance)
• Rockbridge Seminary Master of Divinity (MDIV), Master in Ministry Leadership (MML), and Diploma in Ministry Leadership (DML)

Ok, before I was just a guy going to seminary I was just a virtual guy going to a virtual seminary. Yes, I was an online student. The journey for me began about 7 years ago when I was trying to determine if God was calling me to seminary. I’m not so much sure how much of it was God and how much was me just looking for an excuse to skip town… either way, after looking into lots of seminaries and talking it through with my pastor, I decided to give distance education a shot.

Now, the first thing to note is that the education I received via my distance program was great. I loved sitting down and listening to the lectures, reading all my textbooks, writing my papers. I felt like these exercises truly helped me in my job (I was a campus minister). However, as time went on I discovered what I believe is the greatest challenge of distance education… life.

My wife and I moved to a new city, we had our first baby (little man), I went through 3 jobs (eventually getting back to campus ministry), we bought our first house, our basement was destroyed by a flood (3 times), we had our second baby (sweetpea)… and on and on… All while trying to find time to sit, read, and study. Needless to say, it didn’t really pan out.

Over the course of 5 years I purchased 6 extensions ($50 each) and withdrew from 3 classes (meaning I paid a lot of money for the class, didn’t do the work, and then bailed at the last moment). For me, there always seemed to be something more pressing than the classes… besides, they’d always be there tomorrow.

So, my experience ultimately led me to the decision that I’m going to have to do a residential program if I ever want to finish this degree. Now, please don’t take that to mean I think distance education is a bad idea… quite the contrary. I think it is amazing. However, I believe that it requires a certain type of person, with a certain personality, a certain discipline, and a certain situation. You might be that kind of person.

Anyone out there had any luck with the distance program? Let us hear your success story.

With the advances of technology these days it is truly amazing the education one can get just by hoping online. Which raises a question, “How important is getting the actual seminary degree?”

Now, as I mentioned in my “which degree is for me” post, if you want to be a pastor in a denominational church, then the answer to this question is pretty obvious… very important. But, say you’re just wanting to expand your education, or you simply want to gain some deeper understanding in a few areas, but the actual degree isn’t something you need… or maybe the finance just aren’t there…or maybe you just want to test the waters.

Well, there is an option. Many seminaries are starting to make their class lectures available for FREE! That’s right, you can sit in on literally hundreds of hours of seminary teaching and never leave the comfort of your iPod.

Here is a list of some of the seminaries I know who are giving away their lectures. If you know of anymore, please post a comment and share the goodness.

SEMINARY COURSES AVAILABLE FOR FREE:

• Reformed Theological Seminary (iTunes Required)
• Fuller Theological Seminary (iTunes Required)
  
• Covenant Theological Seminary
• Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Registration Required)

Because of the “unique” scholarship/referral system at Rockbridge Seminary you could theoretically get all your degree for free. Check out their referral system here.