jacksonville
BMA Seminary
Seminary a treasure for all
J
acksonville’s Baptist Missionary
Association Theological Seminary
is a hidden jewel, offering quality
seminary education for folks near and far.
Dr. Philip Attebery, seminary dean-
registrar, said “it’s always a thrill to have
people from the community visit, use
our library,” or simply take advantage of
the programs, presentations and online
studies it offers.
BMA Theological Seminary is located at
1530 E. Pine St. in Jacksonville. To learn
more, visit ttp://bmats.edu, or call 903-
586-2501 or 800-259-5673. Their mailing
address is PO Box 670, Jacksonville,
Texas 75766.
• The Baptist Missionary Association Theologi-
cal Seminary – originally part of a program that
initiated at Jacksonville College, but became an
independent entity in September, 1955 – is the
only seminary located between Shreveport and
Dallas.
• It was identified in 2015 by the Association
of Theological Schools as one of the Top Ten
fastest-growing seminaries in the United States
and Canada.
• This fall, BMATS had an enrollment of 143 this
fall; a free online course offered for non-credit
drew a number of participants, pushing actual
enrollment to 222, according to Dr. Philip At-
tebery, seminary dean.
• Online studies have been offered for more than
a decade, and via technology, the seminary
continues to expand its outreach “by allowing
us to enroll students from around the nation
and world in online and (offer) video-conferenc-
ing courses,” Attebery said. “We have been
especially blessed with an increasing number of
courses available in Spanish.”
• Online students and their counterparts who at-
tend classes at the Jacksonville campus repre-
sent 18 different states and 14 foreign countries
represent in local and online classes.
• It is accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
to award associate, bachelors, and masters
degrees.
• The seminary’s graduate studies division is
accredited by the Commission on Accrediting
of the Association of Theological Schools to
award the Master of Divinity, the Master of Arts
in Church Ministries, Master of Arts – Pastoral
Theology and the Master of Arts – Religion
degrees.
• • In 2018, the Sr. Education Group ranked BMA
Seminary as “the Most Affordable Online Chris-
tian College” for its annual tuition of $4,020. In
2019, SREG ranked the seminary as first in the
“Most Affordable Online Colleges” in its Mas-
ter’s – Religious Studies program, and second
for its Master’s – Theology program.
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Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce | 2020