Spurgeon's BD

I just got an email yesterday that indicated Spurgeon's College will be starting the open BD very soon, so that the first students will be enrolled this coming fall.

Depending on how they choose to do delivery, it may be a better option than Heythrop's total independent study and U. of Glasgow's residency requirement.

Chris

 

If this is an 100% nonresident program, and accepts some transfer credit, I may very well be interested in it myself. Please keep us posted!


Cheers,

 

How very exciting! I know that this has been in the works for some time. The primary drawback to this lies in the fact that DL students will miss out on the beautiful Spurgeon's campus. Oh well, there's always graduation.

A few random, precious memories from the Spurgeon's campus: single-sheet toilet paper dispensers in the bathrooms instead of rolls; huge old-timey toilets that threatened to suck down everything within 25 feet when you flush; annoyingly small drinking cups in the cafeteria; a skeleton key provided for your dorm room; a window view overlooking distant London hillsides; a life-size statue of Charles Spurgeon lurking in the shadows outside the chapel door, waiting to catch me off guard and startle me as I was leaving the chapel alone late in the evening; the Esso station located next to the entrance to the college, to which I would walk each evening to purchase exotic British candy bars and Pepsi in oddly shaped bottles from a Pakistani clerk; on every exterior door, a security code keypad bearing the whole alphabet, A-Zed; struggling to fight off the effects of a 5-hour time-zone change, a 7-hour red-eye flight, and jet lag, while trying to keep up with lively discussions involving a group of people whose accents and group dynamics I at times found difficult to grasp. Ah, the glory of it all! My times there really did make for some precious memories. My experiences of sitting with my British peers over tea (something like 5 times a day) and engaging in dialogue, or standing together with them in the stairway late at night (when I was finally starting to wake up) discussing matters of significance to church leadership were invaluable. Well, anyhow, so I'm a big Spurgeon's College fan.

By the way, Spurgeon's also recently struck up an arrangement with U of Wales, Lampeter enabling Spurgeon's MTh grads to receive advanced standing into the new Lampeter DMin program.

Cory Seibel

 

that's great news

thanks Cory,

That's great news about the UW Lampeter DMin standing of Spurgeon's MTh grads.

I'm interested in Spurgeon's, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't do the Heythrop BD to show more breadth in educational background. My guess is, a Spurgeon's degree on my Curriculum Vita would look an awful lot like a repeat of TEDS.

But it's an interesting option, and your reminiscence of Spurgeon's campus would just about sell it for me if my wife and I did short residencies. Your description reminds me of the distinct tastes and images that I got to see in London and York six years ago.

Blessings,
Chris

 

Chris,

Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about having a CV bearing TEDS and Spurgeon's. Particularly if you are wishing to continue to move primarily in evangelical circles, Spurgeon's might be easier to explain to potential employers. I would encourage you to give considerable attention to the curricular structure of these two BD's. They are considerably different from one another in scope and theological orientation. I guess it's a matter of what you're looking for.

Blessings!

Cory Seibel

 

thanks Cory,

I'm basically weighing them on the basis of transfer credit and curriculum.

My most important focus right now is spirituality as integrated with biblical theology, but I'm favoring doing a dissertation in that area while gaining a broader education in systematics to supplement my OT degree. At present, it seems that the heythrop degree would accomplish that, and it does allow transfer up to 2/5ths of the degree, apparently. I will keep you posted as I progress. After my credential is done, I will be very close to accepting either BD.

Chris