Greetings, It has been a while since completing my online MBA though Regis, therefore a while since I last logged on. Good to see this resource is growing! My head is spinning viewing the threads regarding DL Seminaries. Can anyone help me with the following: I am looking for a quality seminary offering a MDiv for the purpose of ordination. It would be helpful to know whether it is acceptable to either the Episcopal or Lutheran denominations in full or in part. Accredidation is important to me. I see some regionally accredited institutions but notice other accrediting bodies such as ATS. How important is this? Lastly, Are there specific DL schools that come to mind that fit the above criteria? Thanks in advance. Tin
Thanks Janko for your response. The answer to you questions is Evangelical Lutheran. I have not begun a dissernment process at either of the above listed denominations but if I get the ball rolling I want to make sure it is rolling in the right direction. My follow up question -if ATS is standard and TRACS is less so, (I'm assuming that TRACS programs are offered at a distance) would they be acceptable to the denominations listed above? Any suggestions on schools?
tin -- An M.Div. is not necessarily required for ordination in the Episcopal Church; a certain percentage (less than 20%, I think) of priests go through the transitional diaconate in an alternate-route fashion, based on diocesan training, internship, and that sort of thing. I know of one local attorney who went from layperson to deacon to priest over a period of about ten years without leaving central Mississippi (at least not for a noticeable period of time). As in many other denominations, the objective of any alternate route education plan is M.Div. equivalency. In that spirit, I've been told that the University of London B.D. (100% external, exam-based, inexpensive) would apply towards ECUSA ordination requirements, though it wouldn't fulfill them entirely. The only 100% external M.Div. programs I've seen are offered by American Christian College and Seminary (TRACS-accredited and probably not regarded as equivalent to a traditional ECUSA or ELCA M.Div.), Southern Christian University (regionally accredited; affiliated with the Church of Christ), and the University of Pretoria (emphasis in Old Testament studies). I don't know that any of these three programs would do the trick, though. If you're interested in discussing your specific situation in more depth, please feel free to contact me by email at [email protected] and I'll be able to put you in touch with some folks who know more about this sort of thing than I do. Good luck! Cheers,
Hi Tin: An answer and a question. ATS is the generic mainstream accreditor for Christian (of all sorts)and post-Christian seminaries. It is UDSE/CHEA recognized, and ATS accreditation is therefore totally legitimate and serves as the "standard" seminary accreditation. TRACS accredits some evangelical and fundamentalist schools; it is also legitimate, USDE/CHEA recognized, though not as mainstream as ATS. At least until recently, ATS has imposed fairly strict limitations on DL; you can start an MDiv by DL, but you can't do it all by DL or even close. Which Lutherans? Best wishes, Janko
The main thing to bear in mind about Bishop Harris is that the decision to elect an Episcopal bishop is left to the individual diocese, who know their priests much better than the rest of us do. They're less likely to be worried about things like degrees and more likely to look at how effectively the priest performs his or her pastoral duties, and how that might work within the context of the episcopate. While Bishop Harris has a nontraditional academic background (as she apparently did her seminary courses by correspondence from the now-defunct Urban Theology School in Sheffield, England), by the time she became bishop, she had served as editor of The Witness and director of the Episcopal Church Publishing Company, and as rector at churches in both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Cheers,
Hi Tin: I am posting my reply in the off-topic forum, since most of it is not directly germane to distance learning. I will name the thread "MDiv advice".
Uncle J. had some good advice in off topic. Your 100% DL MDiv's are going to be TRACS accredited (all TRACS schools must also offer campus programs so you may be able to mix). Liberty U has a mixed DL and short residency MDiv. Now to the point that J. made. You need to determine the denomination you wish to use it in and begin discussions with a priest/pastor in order to see how to proceed. As J pointed out the ELCA & the ECUSA are on the whole very liberal and for them to see a non denominational school (esp conservative TRACS schools) may put you in a bad place to start. I had a conservative ECUSA priest describe some of the committee stuff from when he sat on them for deciding candidates for priesthood/diaconate. It was not pretty. If the members got a whiff of conservative views on things from abortion to you name it they tried to run the candidate off. This priest had to go toe to toe with the group on a couple of occasions. So, your earning an MDiv from LIberty U is not likely to set hearts a flutter. Good luck. As Tom points out the ECUSA does have an alternative process that takes several years. This is one of the complaints I heard about Barbara Harris (first female Bishop). A priest told me that for goodness sakes if they had to elevate a woman why could it not have been one with some theological education. Look forward if that is your calling to welcoming you to the ranks of the servants of the people of God. North
Thanks, Tom, Janko and North. Your comments have been most helpful and informative. As is the case many times, your posts have made for more questions. I will start with what you folks have suggested.
