American Christian College and Seminary

Bill Grover and others,

I am preparing to start the amplified D.Min. program at ACCS and was curious as to how you set up your program under Biblical Studies.

My experience with ACCS has been okay, they are very slow getting paper work completed that I must have for financing my studies and are not very communicative.

I would really appreciate hearing about your experiences and how you have gone about setting up the Biblical Studies emphasis.

Shawn (aka pirate)

 

===



I entered the ACCS DMin in about July of 02. I've finished three courses: God and Creation;Historical Theology 1; Gospel of John. I'm slower than most as I am doing a second program as well. The courses required about 1000 pages of reading and several short papers for each. For John I wrote one long paper (80-90 pages).

My enrollment was uncomplicated. I guess this was because I pay for each class ,as I go, out of pocket and because I immediately supplied the proper transcriptsl. Since I have the MA, and also the MDiv (equiv) and ThM, I am only required to do 21 units of coursework (7 classes) plus the 9 unit Applied Research Project.

I'm not sure what you mean by "setting up" the Biblical studies emphasis. This concentration is one of several optional majors.In my case, I simply chose the courses I wanted...all in Bib/theo! Of course the ARP must be done with a committee's approval.

My suggestion would be to look at the online catalogue or a hard copy at the grad level courses and pick out the 20(?) classes you wish to take. Then communicate that to them. I would think all could be in that area. I assume you now have an MA in Bible or Theology.

My guess is with those additional 20+ ACCS courses concentrated in that area you will be a pretty well rounded bible scholar by the time you are done. This possibilty of doing it all in Bib/Theo was the attraction of the program for me. Then the function of the ARP is to connect what you have learned in a practical manner to some ministry as church school education.

Now that you are at the threshold of this, you should make sure that this program best fits your present and future needs too ( (unless you a second program waiting in line after this)) because your road ahead is fairly long. Yes, ACCS to me is good because it is cross denominational and conservative theologically and its expectations for course work are reasonable. But two things should be kept in mind:

(1) The DMin in Bible or Theology is a slender qualification for teaching in that concentration at the graduate level in my opinion. Actually the ThM , with the Mdiv prerequisite, is just as concentrated and possibly slightly more rigorous with the language and thesis requisites than the DMin in my own experience thus far. Of course , on the other hand, one can regularly find DMins teaching at all levels and areas of religious instruction.

(2) Also the TRACS accreditation with Gov approved etc does not at least now enjoy a utility equal to regional accreditation. Yet you will have ,when done, an accredited doctorate. You will have finished a considerable amount of work and will have genuinely earned your degree. I can recommend ACCS in these general terms.

You may possibly have to become more independent in your studies than at first is comfortable. I can always reach someone by phone at ACCs if I have to get a question answered. But I don't have to often do this. Were I you, if I wanted to get a headstart, I'd ask to talk with a prof of one course you want, solicit from him the paper topic assignments and begin research on those!

Please ask here or privately if I can help.

 

Bill pretty much covers it. You have the text (s) plus a minimum of 700 additional pages of reading, research papers, exams.

I too have had some irritation with regard to administration (VA benefits). Mostly revolves around 1 well meaning guy who is administratively challegened or over worked (maybe both).

The main thing is to be persistent.

North

 

Bill and North,

Thanks so much for your information. I have completed a Master of Sacred Literature at an unaccredited Bible college that's connected with the churches that I serve.

Fortunately, ACCS has agreed to accept my M.S.L after reviewing my transpcripts and work as the equivalent of an M.A. even though the school itself is unaccredited, the professors have credentials from accredited institutions and the school is in the process for accreditation.

I had emailed the school requesting a single contact person to deal with my financial issues and have yet to receive a response. I think it would be better at this point to call them to discuss this problem and put the problem to rest.

It's great Bill that you have such few hours to complete your D.Min program. What are you planning for your 9 hour project? I am currently between churches and am serving as an unofficial associate pastor developing organizational materials for the function and operation of the church and focusing on leadership development.

I will be following the Amplified D.Min. track which requires 66 hours of study, so I'll be in process for a while. What has been your experience with class load and the hours you have enrolled in per semester? I'm thinking of starting with 6 hours and possibly moving to 9 after the that. What has been your experience with regard to your ability to handle the work load and the number of hours?

The reason I'm curious about this is that I have a disability that affects my ability to function, especially mentally, on and intermitent basis. One one of my former professors who understands my illness recommended ACCS for my studys and also UNISA.

I'm not familiar with UNISA or as he stated the African Schools that follow the European model of educationl. What do you know about those schools, their prerequsites and the likelihood of accepting an unaccredited degree?

Again, thanks so much for your information it has been useful.

Shawn

 

-------------------------------------

I have found ACCS to be very flexible and quite informative.

 

Shawn,

You state that ACCS accepted your unaccredited MSL for entrance into its D.Min. program. Is your undergrad degree from a regionally accredited school?

 

Yes. My undergraduate degree is from Indiana University. It was a Bachelor of General Studies to which I owe Dr. Bear a great deal of gratitude from the ideas I gained from his books in assembling my support documents. I have been the only student to receive the full 30 hours of credit for the submission of my learning portifolio.

Thanks Dr. Bear.

 

[===

As I said, the reason I have the fewer hours to do at ACCS is that I have a 120+ grad semester hour THM.

Re the ARP: I've taught public secondary school since 1969 mostly in Special Ed. In that form of instruction particularly one's teaching is outcome based, ie, that the student demonstrates the learning has occured by meeting specified objectives. I grieve over the looseness of Church Bible school or Sunday School adult instruction wherein those in attendence so often really learn little or nothing. What I would like to do for the ARP, which has not been approved, is to mate the concept of outcome based education to instruction in Christology by creating and testing a manual geared to instruction in SS so that Christians actually learn to define and Scripturally defend those doctrines connected to an evangelical Christology. As my Unizul dissertation is in Christology and as I've taught school so long, I feel particularly equipped to do this.

===

Sounds like a great project and worth the effort. I agree the level of learning in the church is not even milk in my opinion. Very weak and watered down. I would be interested in seeing the outcome of a project like you've described.

===
I enroll for one class at a time. If you are getting VA or other funds the grantor of those monies may require you to complete a certain number of hours in a semester. It takes me around 200 hours to do one course. I'm not very fast. I could do it more quicky, but when interested in a topic, I relish the work. The quality becomes more important than the rate of completion. I would start with as few classes as I could.

Not knowing your level *forgive me* for giving simple advice in paper writing for ACCS: Access to a library is essential. Find someone mature in Bib/The to bounce your ideas off of. ACCS will not grade you down if the instructor disagrees with a conclusion. But you must argue well. Pay close attention to spelling and grammar and clarity in expression. Avoid secondary sources. Don't say "So and so says that so and so says." Use accepted forms of footing and be consistent.

===

I'm planning on taking six hours to begin and may increase depending upon the work load. My educational financing comes through Vocational Rehabilitation and they're always pushing for a quick end to the program.

I'm hoping they'll back off somewhat but I doubt it.

===

I would guess that a doc mostly based on classwork would be easier given such a disability than a research doc as at Unisa (tho I've no experience with Unisa). This is because more intensity , creativity, and rigor is required. One must be rivited in the latter mode on a very narrow area over a very extended time. One's attention must remain focused on a single area. But, in the classwork doc ,subjects are changing constantly ,and the coverage of any one narrow topic is really rather superficial. One's attention is always allowed to move about.
===

I'm not familiar with UNISA or as he stated the African Schools that follow the European model of educationl. What do you know about those schools, their prerequsites and the likelihood of accepting an unaccredited degree?
+++
I really don't know much. I think he also mentioned SATS as an option. My understanding of the European model is the researched oriented Doc. No specific classes and an open-ended time frame.
===

I can only speak on Unizul. This university carefully and laboriously examined my prior degrees. My MA is RA and my Mdiv/Thm(equiv) are RA/ATS. But I literally had to supply the faculty with excerts from the web showing my schools were genuinely accredited. I doubt Unizul would accept your unaccred masters. SATS might!
++++

I'm not very familiar with SATS and might consider looking at it as an option down the line. Possibly for work on a Th.D. or Ph.D.

===
Again, thanks so much for your information it has been useful.

===

You are very welcome, [/B][/QUOTE]

 

ACCS

Greetings,

I contacted ACCS today and I believe that I have gotten everything between they and I worked out so I may start the program.

Dr. Beville was a great help and it looks like they'll be sending me the program information and other materials so I can enroll and begin my studies. I'm looking forward to beginning the work.

I would like to learn more about SATS (What does that stand for?)
and a little about their programs if someone would care to share.

Thanks again for all of your help. I appreciate the information and the fellowship.


Shawn

 

Shawn

SATS is South African Theological Seminary. It no longer offers docs.

 

Re: ACCS

In answer to your earlier question, I take 9 credit hours a semester (full time graduate load) due to maximizing my VA benefits.

Dr. Beville is indeed a great fellow.

Be persistent with your program (ie call etc) if there seem to be administrative glitches. I think the program has grown quite a bit and they are fine tunning some of the administrative stuff.

Good luck!

North

 

Re: Re: ACCS

Mitch Beville, Ph.D., is the person I spoke with regarding a master's degree in education. ACCS has a relationship with Louisiana Baptist University in which 1/2 of the master's program can be earned via LBU, with the second 1/2 earned via ACCS. The degree is awarded by ACCS.

 

Re: Re: Re: ACCS

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: ACCS

I read ( iirc via the old LBU website) that one could earn the ACCS degree by completing 1/2 the coursework with LBU. My purpose in speaking with Dr. Beville was to confirm that the ACCS/LBU master's degree relationship did indeed exist. Dr. Beville was very informative, sharing that ACCS had accepted LBU credits for several years.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ACCS

====

I know, I remember you mentioning this in another thread.


This 1/2 is an unusual amount as the ACCS website itself says the *maximum* number of transferable credits is six of the required 36 for the MA. Special concession for the deserving LBU .

The junior highers will be disappointed that you are not contemplating a career change.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ACCS

Indeed!