Just looked - DETC accredited one new school. Rockbridge Seminary - 100% Online Seminary Degree | Rockbridge Seminary . They're already flying the DETC flag on their site. I know absolutely nothing about the school. Any opinions? Johann
There is apparently no connection between Rockbridge Seminary and the Rockbridge group of companies, which includes Northcentral University. Rockbridge Seminary is a non-profit, while Rockbridge Growth Equity is (obviously) for-profit. Other Rockbridge companies, besides Northcentral, include Quicken Loans, the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, Fathead sports decals, and Protect America security systems.
I have never heard of them, either. However, I clicked on the link and checked out their M.Div. program for comparison with others and found it to be EXTREMELY light academically. No languages, no history courses, no systematic theology, no practical ministry per se, etc. There are a few elective openings, but hardly enough to fill the spots with required coursework. Anyway, just my opinion.
The Rockbridge web site says that they were founded in 2002 and went fully online in 2004. It also says that they have graduated a total of 177 students (37 graduates in 2012), so they have been a fairly small operation historically. Their students are reportedly: - 39% Baptist - 6% Reformed - 50% non-denominational Perhaps their enrollments will rise after accreditation. They don't seem to have increased their tuition, at least not yet.
Here is a list of their MDiv requirements: Touchstone Course (4) New Testament Survey (4) Old Testament Survey (4) Church History 1 (4) Church History 2 (4) Christian Worldview & Theology (4) Bible Language Tools (4) The Theology & Practice of Worship (4) The Theology & Practice of Fellowship (4) The Theology & Practice of Discipleship (4) The Theology & Practice of Ministry (4) The Theology & Practice of Evangelism (4) Preaching/Teaching for Life Change (4) Biblical Hermeneutics (4) Elective (4) Elective (4) Elective (4) E-Portfolio (4) Capstone Course (4) Total Hours – 76
Rockbridge Seminary was developed around the church model as laid out in Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Church," which Warren wrote before his mega-hit "The Purpose Driven Life." The Purpose Driven Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The model Warren lays out involves five purposes that he believes churches should be engaged in. I'm feeling a little lazy, so I'm just going to quote the Wiki entry: And if you'll notice, five of the courses in the Rockbridge M.Div. program are based on these five purposes.
And this is all a bad thing? If you read the information, they are looking to provide leaders for new types of churches. Churches that are involved in ministry, and discipleship. In order to be a candidate for the M.Div. one must be actively working/ministering/involved in a Church. The amount of practical ministry seems to be as much if not more than traditional seminaries. The idea is that you train those for ministry in the Church, not in an academic setting. I believe their is merit in this model. It is not new, others have been doing this for a long time.
