Tuesday, April 1, 2008
- NTS Connection
At NTS, we take seriously our role as a theologically grounded voice in Christian education. We recognize the need for a comprehensive vision in Wesleyan discipleship, as well as the need to create opportunities for ongoing specialization in specific age level ministries (children, youth and adults), and in engaging families within the Family of God. When we talk with students, we sense their passion to guide others through seeking and doing God’s will in a changing cultural landscape; a landscape which is creating new opportunities for ministry.
In this light, many Associate Ministers in local ministry are finding themselves faced with a need to broaden and deepen their ministry skills. In particular:
- Youth Pastors seem to be seeking a new level of ministry that requires a level of learning beyond workshops and short-term seminars. They need an educational experience that will allow them to extend their skills and develop leadership strategies in order to mentor and help youth workers in and beyond their congregations.
- Likewise, many Children’s Pastors desire to be a part of a setting that will bring their ministry experience into direct conversation with new research horizons.
Beginning this year, Associate Ministers in local ministry settings will be able to pursue their professional development in specialized age-level and family based ministry—without leaving their current ministry assignment. Utilizing online education and (one and two-week) intensive module courses (including summer classes), ministers will be able to complete the MACE degree in as little as four years.
Students who prefer to move to Kansas City can complete the same degree in as little as two years, while incorporating more comprehensive specialized studies based on student interest and built on the full range of course options offered at NTS.
This curriculum shift combines the best of contextual ministry and community-based theological reflection with students from around the world. Students will be able to engage in a learning community with people from diverse backgrounds who share similar passions within a Wesleyan heritage. Module classes include opportunities to “break away” from the pressures of ministry for times of reflection and growth at a nationally based center for theological education. Online coursework augments student ministry while providing a national “virtual” educational forum. The diversity of course delivery insures that students benefit from the full range of educational models available today. In addition to online education and two-week module intensives, students may take advantage of specialized classes anchored around professional conferences, nationally known ministry settings, and unique explorations in missional/emergent church efforts.