Completing a Master of Divinity
through On-Line Community and On-Campus Intensives

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 graduate-level ministry education program that does not require you to relocate. Connections makes it possible to earn the Master of Divinity degree in approximately six years of part-time study, or more quickly 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.

The new model invites incoming Connections students to begin with an intensive retreat weekend (Friday-Sunday), during which students build relationships with one another and with 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, during which students examine social and spiritual shaping of ministerial identity through specific readings, small group work, theological reflection, and ministry site visits/interviews.

Immediately following the retreat (Monday-Tuesday) is new student orientation on campus, during which students are 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, students have the flexibility to take courses at a pace that fits their schedules and in the format that best fits them, from online courses, hybrid courses (online time plus two weekends on campus), weekend intensives (held over three weekends during the term), two-week intensives (Monday-Friday for two weeks), or traditional weekly face-to-face classes on campus. Bethany courses offered at the Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center (SVMC) in Pennsylvania are also options, as are courses taken at other accredited seminaries (and Bethany has cross-registrations with several other seminaries in the area).

With this combination of online courses and intensives, the Connections program puts a Bethany Master of Divinity degree within reach for 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 approximately twelve students is expected to begin in 2008. 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 without moving to Richmond!

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

• Sample Connections Course Schedule (part-time, six years)
  
• 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,
Interim Director of Admissions
kelleelbethanyseminary.edu
Admissions Office Phone: 800.287.8822 ext. 1832