LIFETIME LEARNING :
A Church Executive Forum
Equipping discipled scribes
Right now , our School of Divinity at Regent University is seeing incredible growth among full-time ministry leaders , pastors , counselors , workers , and missionaries coming back to seminary for further education .
It ’ s because our world is complex and changing fast — and , because ministers are discipled scribes leading their flocks into truth in such a world , they understand that they must be lifelong learners .
In particular , we find that full-time ministers are pursuing Renewal Theology , one of our distinctives here at The Regent University School of Divinity . The No . 1 focus , here , is on church revitalization and renewal . So many ministers who come to us have been in ministry for decades . Their churches are under stress : they ' ve lost traction , they ' re losing people . They come to us to learn , firstly , to be renewed , themselves . Second , they seek to revitalize their churches , their ministries , and their people . The second area of great interest is Christian Theology , which is very exciting for us . Students who come to us in this respect recognize that the world is causing great conflict for believers . They need strengthening in what the truth is . They come to us to be rooted in biblical , historic , faithful , Christian theology so that they can go forth and equip the next generation .
Keeping it personal , even ( and especially ) online Importantly , all this enrichment is extremely accessible because our seminary holds innovation as one of its primary values . We were very early adopters of online education and have witnessed monumental growth in this space . In fact , among all the students registered for our Fall 2022 masters and doctoral programs , 89 percent are online . I say this : distance or online education is not foreign to Christianity . It ' s the DNA of what we do . Apart from Christ , the person with the greatest influence on me is Paul the Apostle — but I ' ve never met him . Yet , by engaging and reading his work , I have been shaped by his thought . Online education uses so many different modalities and opportunities to connect with students . The students who come to us today are digital natives ; they are used to immediate feedback . The online education we offer provides students with even more contact than one would get in an on-campus program . For example , a number of years ago , I had an online student who was living in Canada . On the day of graduation , he came to meet with me . “ How ' s your grandmother doing ? I know she ' s been struggling with her health ,” I asked . “ And how are your children and your church doing ?” We had a 20-minute conversation before he said , “ You know , we ' ve never met in person .” I couldn ’ t believe it ! Indeed , all our interaction had been online , through video conversations , voicemails and interactive platforms . Yet , it was so robust , so immediate . I believe the key to contemporary education — actually , the key to all formation , and especially theological formation — is presence . Online education gives us an extraordinary ability to be present in greater ways than we can in an hour-long or two-hour class per week . In online education , every voice is heard . There ' s an equal platform for students to speak up , to be heard , and to interact and to receive feedback .
We have courses where , at the beginning , every student gets a personal phone call from a faculty member . After that , there is weekly interaction . Along the way , if a student asks a question , we jump online . Take today , for instance : it ’ s 2 o ’ clock on a Wednesday , and I ' ve already met with eight students via Zoom . The fact that I can see them — hear their voices and their intonations — reminds me that education is more than reading books and writing papers ; it ’ s a complex , personal , comprehensive formation experience .
Accessibility through affordability Of course , the cost of lifetime learning is always a consideration for individuals in full-time ministry . As such , the first priority — in terms of affordability — should be to balance quality with cost . At our School of Divinity , we have committed to keeping tuition cost as low as possible . As a school , we are not interested in making a profit ; we exist to equip the next generation of laborers for the great harvest of God . Second , many scholarships are available . Especially with our seminary education , we have a dream : that one day we ' ll have enough money to only look at call alone ; to just take students and equip them . Third , I encourage potential students to pace out their education . On campus , students are required to be registered full-time ; online , they can take one course at a time . This makes it more doable and , of course , more accessible .
Finally , I encourage all ministers and ministry leaders to encourage their churches to partner with them . The investment of theological education in a pastor will pay dividends for decades to come .
Education is important Theological education is , in my mind , a life-and-death situation . Jesus said that we go forth and renew the world by making disciples . And how do we make disciples ? We immerse them in the knowledge of the Trinity . We go forth and teach them everything that He has commanded . If we ' re not discipled scribes ourselves — not discipled guides and leaders — how can we do it for others ? We cannot give what we don ' t have .
CHURCH EXECUTIVE . COM | 35