Completing a Master of Divinity
through studying as part of our On-Line Community

Are you one of the many people God is calling into ministry who is unable to relocate to Bethany Theological Seminary for training?

• Do you need to continue your current career while preparing to answer God's call?
• Are you already involved in ministry, and seek to further your education while continuing to serve where God has put you?
• Are you feeling the call to prepare for ministry, but are unable to relocate because of family or other obligations?

If so, Bethany's Connections program is designed with you in mind!

Connections is a rigorous and fully-accredited graduate-level ministry education program that does not require you to relocate to earn your Master's degree. Connections makes it possible to earn the Master of Divinity degree in approximately six years of part-time study alongside your existing ministry or work, or more quickly--in as little as three years--if you have the time. The curriculum combines online learning in community with other students with intensive face-to-face sessions on campus. Most intensive sessions are scheduled on Fridays and Saturdays, leaving weekdays and Sundays open. Connections students join Bethany's close-knit learning community while moving through the program at their own pace.

A Personalized and Flexible Program that Fits Your Needs

Our personalized program format invites you to begin your Connections degree program with an intensive retreat weekend (Friday through Sunday).  During this retreat you will build relationships with other students and faculty, and experience Bethany's open-ended and collaborative style of learning. This weekend also serves as the first weekend of the hybrid course F-110C, Exegeting the Call and Culture of Ministry.  This Ministry Formation course will help you examine the social and spiritual shaping of your ministerial identity through specific readings, small group work, theological reflection, and hands-on ministry site visits and interviews in your chosen context.

Immediately following the opening retreat (on Monday and Tuesday) is new student orientation on campus for both distance and local students.  Here you'll become acquainted with the technology used in online learning. Work for F-110C then continues online and through one other weekend on campus (Friday-Saturday) later in the Fall. From there on out, you have the flexibility to take courses at a pace that fits your schedule, and in the format that best suits you, choosing from a mix of completely online courses, hybrid courses (online time plus two Fri-Sat weekends on campus), weekend intensives (meeting three weekends during the term), two-week intensives (Monday-Friday for two weeks, such as Jan Term), or traditional weekly face-to-face classes on campus that may meet for just one evening a week, or the more traditional twice-a-week schedules. Bethany also courses offered at the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (SVMC) in Pennsylvania as options; courses taken at other accredited seminaries (and Bethany has cross-registrations with several other seminaries in the area). Your academic advisor will serve as your best resource to help you select courses to meet both your academic needs, as well as your own ministry interests.

With this combination of online courses and intensives, the Connections program puts a Bethany Master of Divinity degree within reach for you, and many students who previously would have chosen other educational options, or not pursued a degree at all. The first Connections cohort group began in August 2003. The second cohort group, pictured above, began in August 2006. A third group of twelve students began in 2008, and another group is already scheduled for 2009--with a few openings yet available! Connections students complete a total of 27 courses or 81 semester hours of course work, the same number and in the same distribution as in the local track to the M.Div. degree. To meet accreditation requirements, one-third of all classwork has to be completed on Bethany's main campus, and the combination of intensives and hybrid courses are designed to assist students in meeting those standards.

Yes, it is possible to complete your Master of Divinity degree through Bethany without moving to Richmond!

For more information about Connections, please explore the following links...

• Sample Connections Course Schedule
  
• Connections Costs and Financial Aid
• Accreditation for Distance Education

...or contact us directly!

Enten Eller,
Director of Distributed Education and Electronic Communication
Entenbethanyseminary.edu
(ph) 800.287.8822 ext. 1831 -or- 765.983.1831

Elizabeth Keller,
Director of Admissions
kelleelbethanyseminary.edu
Admissions Office Phone: 800.287.8822 ext. 1832