orange-red Does anyone on this forum have information about Trinity Theological Seminary located in Newburgh, In? Any help that you can provide is greatly appreciated. Grad 95 B.A. East Coast Bible College M.A. Church of God Theological Seminary
Welcome to the Forum Grad95! If you run a search of this website on the search engine (on the menu bar above - assuming it it working) you will find "loads" of information on TTS... In brief they once were highly criticized for many things... then TTS decided to pursue regional accreditation... so they appeared to make efforts to "clean up their act"... (do the search to uncover their alleged sins and questionable business practices) The jury is still out regarding the results of their efforts to clean up their act... the attitude here on this forum appears to be a "wait-and-see" regarding their success at regional accreditation... Although there are those on this forum who would find it difficult to forget their past shaddy conduct... Go do the searches... then come back with your questions and concerns... There are many people here who will be more than happy to give you a cyber-earful... but do the research first... get educated... it helps for a more lively debate!
Bruce P, Thanks for your insightful comments about TTS. I will do the search as you have suggested and draw conclusions. The fact that TTS has pursued RA is encouraging, but the bad business practices does discourage me. I will get back to you later with more commentary. Grad95 B.A. East Coast Bible College M.A. Church of God Theological Seminary
Pug, I'm looking for an affordable, substantive doctoral program. However, with only an MA, it has been tough. There are several unaccredited programs that fit my needs and are cost-effective. Yet, the "unaccredited" status somewhat scares me. Both of my degrees are RA and ATS accredited. Any help that you can provide is greatly appreciated. Grad95
I think that's a tough order. I understand your concern over unaccredited programs. How to you feel about a South African program? UNISA ioffers a Doctor of Theology degree and they are certainly an affordable, legitimate option. I don't know if they would consider the MA sufficent to enter the program though. Pug
Pug, I have not checked with UNISA but another South African School- South African Theological Seminary(SATS) would accept my MA and has provisionally accepted me into their MTh. program. This is a research only MTh. and would prepare for the DTh. at the same school( research only as well). The Masters program is accredited, but they are awaiting it for the DTh. I'm not certain how a research only degree would be accepted in "American " academic circles. The cost for the MTh. is very minimal- $1240 per year in American money. That's not bad. The thesis for this degree would have to be 120-140 pages in length. In fact, just out of curiosity, I offered two suggested titles to the Head of the Graduate and Post-Graduate school at SATS and he liked both ideas. I haven't ruled the SA route out yet. Grad95
UNISA is going to be similar to SATS in that it's a "research" degree requiring only an extensive thesis. Cost will probably be similar to SATS as well. I think UNISA would likely require a MTh. before the DTh., but the website says that this requirement can be waived in some cases. As far as being accepted in academic circles, what are you trying to do with the degree? I think you would certainly have the academic snobs that look down their noses at a reasearch only degree, but I believe they'd look down their noses even more at an unaccredited degree. Depending on what you plan to do with the degree I wouldn't worry about those that may thumb their noses. You will always have those types no matter what you do. You will also have those that recognize the accomplishment of work at such a high level. I think you should do what feels best in your heart and disregard the potential negativity of others. As a final thought, I think most of the negative opinions in academia would come from making the jump from MA to DTh if you were successful in finding a school that allowed you to do it, not from the type of DTh you earned. You'd absolutely be better off getting the MTh first. The MTh is an extremely well respected degree. Outside of religious circles, I don't think many people know just how much work a true MTh is. Pug
Pug, You are exactly correct. There would be someone to snub their nose at a research only degree, no matter where it was from. I too think that the MTh. would better prepare me for the DTh. The MTh. does offer two areas that I am extremely interested in- leadership and counseling. Currently I pastor a church and both of them would be helpful. Again, I am not ruling out the SA route. Are you familiar with another school- Louisiana Baptist University? It is not accredited but is approved by the BBFI( Baptist Bible Fellowship International) and The American Association of Christian Counselors. Their program is reasonably priced. They offer both a Ph.D. in leadership and counseling. I am giving consideration to this as well. Check out their website and see what you think. Grad95
I checked out the site for LBU...pretty interesting. Not being a Baptist, I don't know how large the BBFI is. I imagine you'd be pretty safe with this school as long as you stayed in a Baptsit church that was part of the BBFI. It it were me, I'd probably go the SATS or UNISA direction, but as I said in my last post, you have to do what's in your heart. Have you looked at Columbia Evangelical Seminary? They are unaccredited but very respected in my opinion. CES was founded (and is still run) by Rick Walston, the author of Walston's Guide to Christian Distance Learning. He's also authored a ton of other books. Their doctorate programs are also research degrees, which I know is not your first preference, but they are closely mentored, guided, and apppear to be quite interesting. They're reasonable at around $100 per hour. Just another possibility to consider along with UNISA, SATS, LBU, and TTS. I wouldn't rule out TTS either. I've talked to their people a number of times. They seem quite serious in their chase for regional accreditation. Pug
Pug, Thanks for all of you insightful and helpful comments. I will not be posting anymore for a while as I will be leaving for a trip on Monday. There are some serious issues to consider regarding the pursuit of a doctorate, but I will keep everything you have said, as well as that of others in mind. Thanks again and God bless your life with His richest blessings. Grad95
Trinity, Unisa, etc.. Greetings! I am, among other things, a TTS grad, and one very grateful for the school and the conservative theological position they endorse. There are tons of ATS accredited schools who are so Liberal they are an absolute joke. My two cents!! First ask yourself, why do I want a doctorate?? To teach, or for additional ministerial training?? If teaching, I would highly recommend Unisa, whose doc grads are teaching at many top universities and seminaries. If for further ministerial training, TTS, Unisa, SATS, or a number of others would be very suitable. SATS will (most likely) eventually get the 'go ahead' for the DTh, but the MTh would be (as you mentioned) a next, good step for you, especially if you have not done a major research project as yet. Having gone through this process, I have learned as others before me, that the South African and UK research degrees are quite different than the programs you get here in the States (and Canada). If your MA is not a research degree, you would do yourself a great favour by doing the MTh prior to attempting the DTh, which is a very rigourous program, no matter the cost. As a Unisa grad (MTh), I can tell you from experience that the school is theologically Liberal and can be enormously frustrating to deal with communications wise. It was primarily for that reason that I am doing my DTh with Uzulu presently -- much smaller and easier to deal with. Uzulu's theology website doesn't work well right now for some reason, but you can certainly contact the department for further information. One of the fellows who started SATS earned the DTh from Uzulu, a fully accredited and quite affordable postgraduate qualification. US doctorate's will cost the most, UK next, then S African. There are dozens of people with S African doctorates teaching in the West. They are increasingly recognized for the quality programs they are. Many ATS seminaries are increasingly 'out of touch' with what God is doing outside the West and that will have great impact upon your thinking and ministry to others. The cutting edge of Christianity (see Philip Jenkins and others) is in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Don't be too quickly seduced by Western, traditionalist hubris concerning schools and Christian training.
TTS Response Thanks for your comments about TTS. I have considered the SA degrees. At this point a decision has not been reached. I will keep you posted on the direction I take regarding a doctoral program. Grad95
Just to add to this discussion, please note that your reason for selecting a doctoral program has a significant impact on your choice of school. If you're looking for personal or ministerial purposes then you have far more flexibility than if you're interesting in securing a faculty position somewhere. If you want to teach somewhere, you would be wise to speak with current faculty at those schools to determine how they view different institutions. Either way, I would recommend that you stick with accredited U.S. or government approved international programs in your search. You can find accredited Christian distance doctoral programs (except D.Min.) and a number of relevant international programs listed at Baker's Guide to Christian Distance Education (and, yes, that's my site.) Jason --- www.bakersguide.com
