Can someone describe the process of taking courses at Whitefield?

ie: Tapes, Online viewing, CDs or DVDs (buy and/or rent?)
Readings ( list of books and syllabi, online?)
Papers
Tests
Interactions with professors and/ or other students?
Time line for completing courses.

Anything else you can think of to help give me an idea of what to expect.

God Bless,

Conrad

__________________
Conrad W. Judy, Jr.
Ruling Elder, Eastern Shore Reformed Presbyterian Church, Centreville, MD
James Pepper: You know, there's an old saying, Miss Sally. There's no law west of Dodge and no God west of the Pecos. Right, Mr. Chisum?
John Simpson Chisum: Wrong, Mr. Pepper. Because no matter where people go, sooner or later there's the law. And sooner or later they find God's already been there. - Chisum (1970)

Conrad,

Have you visited their website? I'd suggest you start there:

http://whitefield.edu/

__________________
Ivan Schoen, Pastor
Maranatha Baptist Church
Poplar Grove, Illinois USA
www.maranatha-sbc.org/
The greatest enemy to human souls is
the self-righteous spirit which makes
men look to themselves for salvation.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

I have read the catalog on the webpage. It is not clear on whether you buy and or rent the lectures. As foar as I can see there are no listings for book lists or syllabi.

It is good at layng out the different programs and courses, but I am still not sure how the program runs in a practical manner.

Most likely I am interested in the M. Min. as a RE. I do not believe I am called to full time pastorate, but want to add to me knowledge and understanding of scripture so I may better serve Christ and the Body.

I guess I am looking for people's description of how the programs run from their experiences.

Thanks!

Conrad

Others relating their experiences at Whitefield is a good idea. There are a number here who have benefitted greatly from "attending" Whitefield. I hope they chime in soon.

Although I looked into the program, I did not take it up. However, I contacted Whitefield and all of my questions were answered. My contact person was thorough, friendly and professional.

Why not give it a whirl yourself. You can start here:

http://whitefield.edu/contact.php

Conrad,

I am taking courses through Whitefield College. I am trying to finish up my bachelor’s degree. (I quit college in my freshman year after I graduated high school to work full-time and then I began to preach. So, I never had the opportunity to finish.)

Anyway, Dr. Johnston told me that as I was completing my bachelor degree some of the classes I am taking will also count toward my MDiv. That is my long term goal.

Now, enough about me. Let me try to answer your questions. I am three classes in and thus far it has been pretty challenging. The hardest part for me is the time constraints I have. I have a wife and daughter, a church to pastor and another part time job. So, the courses for me have not necessarily been easy.

Basically you order your first two courses and then you'll receive them in the mail about 3-4 weeks later. When you contact the school they will send you an order form that will tell you what the required texts are for your classes. If you don't have the texts then you can order them from the school and they will send them to you along with a CD that has lectures on it.

My first two courses had about 16-17 lectures for each course. I also had to read about 2-3 books for each course. You are required to take notes on each lecture and write a lecture summary for each lecture as well. Then you write chapter summaries for the books that you read for each course. At the end of the course I had to write a paper of at least 1300 words on a topic covered in the course.

There's quite a bit of work involved, and like I said if you have time constraints it won't be easy. My first two classes weren't too bad, but my third class (Old Testament Survey) has 56 lectures that have to be listened to. Each lecture is anywhere from 40 minutes to about 55 minutes long. (There is a trick to listening to the lectures though. Listen to them on fast speed in Windows media. As long as you can keep up and take notes then you can cut some time out that way.)

I haven't had to take any tests as of yet. I am assuming that most of the courses will require a final paper which will consist of the greatest portion of the grade for that class. The rest of the grade consists of lecture summaries, chapter summaries etc.

I'm thankful for Whitefield. It meets my needs in that it is:

a. Inexpensive (Each course is about 300 dollars)
b. Allows me to work pretty much at my own pace (I could never do all I do and go to a B&M seminary)
c. Gives me the reformed education I have been looking for (I already have a degree from a fundamental, dispensational seminary, but since God opened my eyes to the Reformed faith about five years ago I have been looking for the right school. Whitefield is the right one for me.)

I have 21 more classes to complete for my bachelor and then I start on my MDiv program. So, it's a lot of work but in the end it will be worth it for me.

Hope this helps.

__________________
Ryan Barnhart - Pastor of OGBC
Husband to a beautiful wife, Father to two beautiful girls
"But by the grace of God I am what I am." I Corinthians 15:10

"I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms. And in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer." - John Paton

Thank you! This is the type of feedback I am hoping for.

I met yesterday with my pastor and I am seriously considering applying to one of the programs at Whitefield.

Currently, I am a Ruling Elder in a PCA church that is just just over one year since particularization. In addition I am a middle school principal. So time is an issue to me, but not as much as finding a curriculum and process that honors God, by rightly discerning His Word.

Again, I appreciate your taking the time to give me your input! God Bless,

Conrad

I have been working on the M-Div from Whitefield for almost a year now. The master level sounds as if it is similiar to the bachelors level. Lectures, notes on the lectures, lots of reading, about 2,000 pages for each class, followed by lots of writting, chapter summaries and book reports on each book, usually about 6 or 8 books, some of them thin, some very long, and a final paper on each class. Most of the books are from Puritan age or the 1800's, a lot of Gordon Clark, some Bahnsen, Calvin, Turretin.
The classes seem to follow the outline of the Westminster Confession. By this I mean, first you learn about the bible then God, scripture, then the topics of theology go right along with the Confession.
It is a very good school. I am learnig a lot. When I talk to other people I can see just how much I have learned. I will be very knowledgable when finished. Keep in mind, it is very time consuming, and most importantly, IT IS NOT ACCREDITED, this is not aproblem if you plan on working in a local church, but if you have ambitions to go on to another school or to work in a school you will not be able to because of its lack of accreditation. But this lack of accreditation is what allows them to focus only on the classes that are necessary, leaving out the BS classes you ususally have to take so that the school can get government money.

I have an M-Div and a course catalogue I can try to post, or I can e-mail it to anyone interested.
If anyone has any question let me know, I know the President, Dr. Talbot, and some of the other teachers there fairly well.

__________________
Erick Bohndorf, Covenant Baptist Church, KS
http://qayaqtraveler.blogspot.com/
The question for us today is, will we be like the majority of Israel and continue to look in fear at the giants in the land and urge our fellow Christians to be "realistic," or will we be like Joshua and Caleb and faithfully follow our king, trusting to fulfill every one of his promises completely?

After reading some positive feedback here, last Friday (6-29) I email Whitefield according tot he contact link you sent me.

Maybe it is closed for the holiday week, but I have not received a response.

Does anyone have any further suggestions?

God Bless,

Conrad

Actually I sent an E yesterday, I am thinking about some Laity studies they offer, it sounds solid!

__________________
~etexas~

I am in the Ph.D. program in "Christian Intellectual Thought". Conrad, if you have any questions, you can pm me.
"In Christ",
Bobby

__________________
Bobby Gawthrop, V.D.M.
licensed, ordained SBC, licensed PCA
Ph.D. student (Whitefield Theological Seminary)
"Every minister in those days had a V.D.M. degree: Verbum Dei Minister. When, therefore, I became a teacher of apologetics it was natural for me to think, not only of my Th.M. and my Ph.D., but above all of my V.D.M. The former degrees were but means whereby I might be true to the latter degree." Cornelius Van Til

Has anyone here just done the Lay studies stuff?