Hi,

After discussing it with my wife we both feel the best way for me to get seminary education is by starting it through correspondence and then going to the seminary to finish courses as needed. This way I can stay working in Canada, take my correspondence courses as I am able and save up to go and finish in the US. Since we would be considered international students and would have to have so much money up front without the ability to work for the first year makes the cost of us moving down to the US too high. Basically I am looking for a good seminary to start an MDiv program via correspondence.

The two seminaries I have in mind are Whitefield and RTS. They both seem to offer good correspondence courses but I'm not sure which would be better or if there is a better seminary that I'm not considering. Accreditation is a concern for me, because I've been advised by my Greek professor that it could affect both ordination and future studies. However, I'm not sure if the fact that Whitefield is not accredited would hamper ordination or further studies. From reading posts on this board I've heard that the education you get from Whitefield is second to none so that is encouraging. Can anyone comment on distance education from RTS or compare the two?

Any advice would be appreciated!

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David Belanger
Member, APC Vancouver
Student Minister, Associated Presbyterian Churches
Student, Haddington House Divinity School
Port Coquitlam, BC

You should also check into Westminster Theological Seminary. They will allow you to complete upto 25hours of M.Div coursework and 18 hours of M.A.R. This would certainly allow you to get some of the work done before moving down to the states.

If not Westminster, it seems that RTS would be your best bet. The accreditation hurtle at Whitefield is too great.

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Matthew
Free Grace Church
British Columbia, Canada

"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said. "
-Peter Drucker

Matthew,

Thanks for your reply, I'll look into WTS. Which would you recommend - East or West? Ideally the seminary that can offer the best/most correspondence courses will be chosen to lower my eventual moving costs.

Dave,

I would recommend West, this is after speaking with pastors and others. Of course I am a Reformed Baptist, so West, with its Institute for Reformed Baptist Studies helps me along in the decision.

Whether you choose RTS or WTS it appears that you will be limited to taking about a year of course work in the distance format. Unless of course you went through the distance M.A. at RTS. But then that is not a M.Div...

Matthew,

Thanks for the recommendation, I was thinking WTS West was the better of the two right now.

That RTS distance M.A. is quite interesting. I don't know what you can do with that degree in terms of ordination though. As I understand it an MDiv is pretty much the standard for ministers, not sure if an M.A. is enough.

[quote:8ff57b10be="daveb"]Matthew,

Thanks for the recommendation, I was thinking WTS West was the better of the two right now.

That RTS distance M.A. is quite interesting. I don't know what you can do with that degree in terms of ordination though. As I understand it an MDiv is pretty much the standard for ministers, not sure if an M.A. is enough.[/quote:8ff57b10be]

Dave,

In my opinion the Virtual Program at RTS is the best of the bunch. I actually wound up at Jackson at least in part because I had already been taking distance classes for a year at RTS. I was planning on doing all of my studies by distance.

The RTS program is by far the most flexible. RTS treats the Virtual Campus just like the various physical campuses (Jackson, Charlotte, Orlando). Students who are resident MDiv can take Virtual Classes and have it count toward their graduation credits and requirements.

While it is true that you cannot get an entire MDiv by distance, I don't think that you can do that anywhere - with the possible exception of Greenville (which is another VERY good option). Maybe KC can chime in on that. You can get an entire M.A., which is 60 credits, and pretty much leaves WTS and CTS in the dust as far as number of credits. And the MA credits are completely transferrable to the MDiv. So if you get the MA, you can "turn it in" for 60 credits worth of MDiv, which would mean you are more than 1/2 done (106 credits total). You could then take those 60 credits to any of the RTS campuses.

If you have a church supporting you that is willing to pay 1/3 of the tuition, RTS will waive another 1/3, so the tuition is not to bad in that case - it is about $100 a credit hour out of pocket that way. Again, another good option in that regard is Greenville, which is VERY affordable (I think like $100 a credit hour).

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Feel free to email me off list if you want my to call you and discuss it further (I have free long distance to Canada). I could also get you the number of the RTS contact who is a friend of mine.

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Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

If you're seeking ordination find out what the requirements are and pick the best program. The MDiv is the professional ministerial degree, but if you have pastoral experience or are involved in some kind of pastoral mentoring relationship you may be able to achieve ordination by just completing the MA.

I'm in the MABS program at RTS, because it gave me the most flexibility. My undergrad is a ministerial degree and I'm being mentored by my pastor, and will be coming under the care of presbytery. With the MA I can meet the Bible and language requirements for ordination and it will only be 65-70 hours vs. 105 hours. I'm going to piecemeal it with a combination of Virtual classes, classes in Atlanta, modulars, and maybe commuting to Charlotte as I get near the end of the program.

My vote is RTS Virtual

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David Kicklighter
East Lanier Community Church (PCA)
Buford, GA

Thanks for the replies, they have been very helpful!