Caskey School of Divinity

Transcription

1 Caskey School of Divinity On December 14, 2010, the trustees of Louisiana College approved a resolution to establish a Divinity School that will train coming generations of Christian leaders 1) to correctly handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15), 2) to preach the word (2 Tim 4:2), 3) to emphasize the great truths of the Christian faith in their preaching and teaching (1 Tim 4:16), 4) to share the gospel passionately with the lost (2 Tim 4:5), and 5) to model outstanding Christian character (1 Tim 3). The Divinity School will focus primarily on addressing the needs of small-church and bi-vocational pastors whose access to theological education is significantly limited and whose needs are terribly underserved. Theological training will be offered to these pastors on the basis of their particular educational goals and educational background. The Master of Arts with an Emphasis in Pastoral Ministry is designed for students who have completed an undergraduate college degree. The Associate of Arts in Pastoral Ministry is designed for students who have earned a high school diploma or a GED but who have not completed a bachelor s degree. Certification in Pastoral Ministry is designed for students who desire theological training but do not intend to earn credit toward a degree or who have not earned a high school diploma or its equivalent (GED). The Master of Arts with an Emphasis in Biblical and Theological Studies is offered as a residency program for those who desire a more rigorously academic program of study which includes research in the original biblical languages, exegetical analysis, and classical theological study. Programs with an Emphasis in Pastoral Ministry One of the goals of the Caskey School is to provide training that complements rather than competes with the pastor's current ministry. The core of the curriculum for the M.A. in Pastoral Ministry is a series of six courses titled Proclaiming the.... The core will focus on proclaiming the three major sections of the NT (Gospels and Acts, Paul s Epistles, General Epistles and Revelation) and the three major sections of the OT (Pentateuch, Prophets, Writings). While taking these core courses, students will travel to the Caskey School of Divinity for three weekends during a given semester, at the beginning, middle, and conclusion of the course. These weekend sessions will provide an opportunity for the students to have face-to-face interaction with a professor who will serve as their personal mentor through their studies. These weekend sessions will also provide opportunities for the pastors to preach while their professor and peers evaluate them, providing helpful feedback that will strengthen their skills in the pulpit. Additionally, each course will have an online component in which the professor guides the student through a step-by-step process of studying a biblical text and developing a sound expository sermon from it each week. Students who take six hours per semester will prepare a sermon from the New Testament for Sunday morning and a sermon from the Old Testament for Sunday night. Thus each class will be directly and immediately relevant for the pastor and will be a help rather than a hindrance to his fulfillment of the weekly demands of ministry.

2 The online component of the course is absolutely essential. It is the only means of weekly instruction for the busy bi-vocational pastor. However, online instruction alone is inadequate. For pedagogical reasons, instruction from and interaction with a living, breathing professor, face-to-face, and heart-to-heart is crucial. Furthermore, accreditation for new programs that primarily consist of online offerings is now very difficult to achieve. Thus, the administration of the Caskey School of Divinity strongly believes that offering online-assisted courses will be most helpful and practical for the small-church pastor. M.A. with an Emphasis in Pastoral Ministry The MA with an emphasis in Pastoral Ministries is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of smaller church and bi-vocational pastors who have a bachelor's degree in a career field but have not received theological education. The program consists largely of hybrid courses which permit students to remain in their current place of ministry while completing their training. Old Testament Studies (9 hrs.) 1 New Testament Studies (9 hrs.) 2 Theological Studies (6 hrs.) Preaching and Pastoral Ministry (12 hrs.) Topics in Topics in Pastoral Ministry (3 hrs.) Practicum (0 hrs.) Evangelism practicum (continuous enrollment in fall and spring semesters) A.A. with an Emphasis in Pastoral Ministry The Associate in Pastoral Ministry degree is designed to prepare students who desire theological education in order to minister in the local church and who have earned a high school diploma or its equivalent (GED) but who do not possess a Baccalaureate degree in Religious or Christian Studies. The degree program consists of 15 hrs. of coursework from the College s central curriculum and 45 hrs. of coursework in Pastoral Ministry as prescribed by the Commission on Colleges (SACS/COC). Core Curriculum Courses (15 hours total; see LC undergraduate catalog for info.) Humanities/Fine Arts (3 hrs.) Choose one of the following: EN101, EN200, FR101, GM101, SP101, GK223, HE437, AR101, AR102, AR103, AR200, AR207, AR322, AR323, MC250, MU200, MU331, MU332, or TH200 (3 hrs.) Social/Behavioral Sciences (3 hrs.) Choose one of the following: EC221, GE201, PS200, PY220, or SO221 Natural Sciences/Mathematics (3 hrs.) Choose one of the following: BI101, BI113, BI115, CH103, CH111, ES103, ES205, ES220, PH101, PH220 MA/PI230, MA100, MA111, MA120, or MA218 Religion (6 hrs.) Old Testament Survey - RL101 (3 hrs.) New Testament Survey - RL102 (3 hrs.) 1 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching 2 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching

3 Courses in Pastoral Ministry (45 hours total) Old Testament Studies (9 hrs.) 3 New Testament Studies (9 hrs.) 4 Theological Studies (9 hrs.) The Baptist Faith (3 hrs.) Preaching and Pastoral Ministry (18 hrs.) Contextual Issues in 5 Topics in Pastoral Ministry (3 hrs.) Discipleship and Spiritual Formation (3 hrs.) Personal Evangelism (3 hrs.) Practicum (0 hrs.) Evangelism practicum PM100 (enrollment required for two semesters) Certification in Pastoral Ministry The Certification in Pastoral Ministry program is designed to prepare students who desire theological education in order to minister in the local church who do not intend to earn credit toward a degree or who have not earned a high school diploma or its equivalent (GED). Courses are for certification only, not for credit toward an associate s or bachelor s degree. The program offers two levels of certification: 1) Advanced Certificate in Pastoral Ministry (30 hrs), and 2) Certificate in Pastoral Ministry (12 hrs). Advanced Certification consists of the following courses (30 hours total): Old Testament Studies (6 hrs. choose 2 courses) 6 New Testament Studies (6 hrs. choose 2 courses) 7 Theological Studies (6 hrs.) Preaching and Pastoral Ministry (6 hrs.) 3 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching 4 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching 5 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching 6 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching 7 Prerequisite: Expository Preaching

4 Certification consists of the following courses (12 hrs. total): Old Testament Studies (3 hrs. choose 1 course) New Testament Studies (3 hrs. choose 1 course) Theological Studies (3 hrs.) Preaching and Pastoral Ministry (3 hrs.) Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies The MA with an emphasis in Biblical and Theological Studies is designed for students who excelled in undergraduate programs in the field of Christian Studies. The program offers a rigorous curriculum that will prepare students to become outstanding expositors, biblical scholars, theologians, and theological educators at secondary and undergraduate institutions. The program also provides a strong foundation for future doctoral studies. Hermeneutics (3 hrs.) Hermeneutics (3 hrs.) Biblical Languages (6 hrs.) Intermediate Hebrew (3 hrs.) 8 Intermediate Greek (3 hrs.) 9 Biblical Theology (6 hrs.) OT Theology (3 hrs.) 10 NT Theology (3 hrs.) 11 Biblical Exegesis (12 hrs.) Pentateuch, Prophets, Writings (6 hrs.) 12 Gospels and Acts, Pauline Epistles, or General Epistles/Revelation (6 hrs.) 13 Theological Studies (9 hrs.) 14 Historical Theology (3 hrs.) Advanced Doctrines (3 hrs.) Baptist Doctrines (3 hrs.) Historical Studies (3 hrs.) Christian History 1 (3 hrs.) or Christian History 2 (3 hrs.) Electives (9 hrs.) Elective courses (9 hrs.) or Elective courses (3 hrs.) and Thesis option (6 hrs.) 15 Research and Bibliography (3 hrs.) Thesis (3 hrs.) Evangelism Practicum (0 hrs. continuous enrollment in fall and spring semester) 8 Prerequisites: Elementary Hebrew 1 and 2. 9 Prerequisites: Elementary Greek 1 and 2 10 Prerequisites: OT Survey and Intermediate Hebrew 11 Prerequisites: NT Survey and Intermediate Greek 12 Prerequisites: OT/NT Surveys and Intermediate Hebrew 13 Prerequisites: OT/NT Surveys and Intermediate Greek. 14 Prerequisites: Christian Theology 1 and 2 or Christian Doctrines and Church History 15 Prerequisite: 24 hrs. of coursework completed and advisor s approval

5 Contact Information: Dean: Dr. Charles L. Quarles Associate Dean: Dr. Jason S. Hiles Associate Dean of Christian Ministry: Dr. Argile A. Smith Executive Assistant: Mrs. Ada Moore Mailing Address: 1140 College Drive, LC Box 555; Pineville, LA Phone: (318)