Last Sunday I talked about the Graduate Studies in Ministry program at Tabor College. I've been personally invested in this project and am excited for it. I know I wrote about this a few weeks ago, but allow me to touch on a couple points and answer a few potential questions about it!

First, who is it for? The program is designed for anyone who wants to explore a call to ministry or prepare them for ministry in the church. That applies first to those who want to do the work of a pastor/elder, but also includes those called to missions, significant teaching, or leadership in the church. While not quite as robust as a traditional seminary program, it is a 2-year program that will allow you to earn a credited masters degree. Or, if you don't want to pursue a masters, or don't have a bachelors degree, you can do the full program and earn a certificate that is acknowledged by the denomination. Or, you could simply audit courses (and not do the full workload). All that to say, the program is tailored for just about anyone in the church who wants to be trained for church ministry.

Second, how will it function? Students will take one 8-week course per semester. The first course in the fall will be an Old Testament survey. The second course in the spring will be a class on preaching from the Old Testament. Each class is developed and taught jointly by a professor and pastor (or pastors). Each student will do the coursework online in the context of the local church, regularly meeting online with other students and the course instructors, with at least one gathering per course in-person (at Tabor College or a local church). Additionally, each student will be mentored by their pastor as they complete the 2-year program.

Third, what will it cost? I can't give exact numbers yet, but Tabor, MB Foundation, the USMB denomination, and local churches will all work together to fund the program and the students. So, each student will pay very little, relatively speaking, for the full program. I'm encouraged that the MB family is coming together to support this initiative of raising harvest workers.

If you're interested in it, please talk to me about it and/or see the link below! My hope is that by the end of the summer we are commissioning at least one of our people to launch into this program.

https://tabor.edu/online/graduate-studies-in-ministry-courses/