Bethel Seminary
Distinctive Characteristics
Bethel Seminary of the East’s programs are characterized by:
- Academic rigor and excellence: Qualified faculty with earned doctorates
and with pastoral or missions experience teach courses at the graduate
level. Full-time faculty teach in all centers to ensure academic
quality and to interact with students.
- Adult education model: Educational programs follow adult learning
principles and practices. Education centered on the learner, rather
than the teacher, enables students to assume responsibility for advancing
their own education. Student-faculty interaction is frequent and
collegial.
- Convenient and flexible scheduling: Classes typically are held
on weekday afternoons and evenings to accommodate working professionals
and persons in vocational ministry. Some Saturday classes are also
offered. Each quarter is 11 weeks long.
- Ministry involvement: Students are actively involved in church
or parachurch ministry throughout their graduate study program. Students
choose ministries and churches to suit their ethnic, linguistic,
ecclesiastical, and demographic preferences.
- Mentoring: Local ministry mentors provide knowledge, experience,
and encouragement to the students in their ministry contexts and
guided learning experience components. Mentors are trained by the
seminary and work in partnership with the faculty and each student,
thereby enriching the entire learning community.
Mentors participate in a Community Day of Learning scheduled for the opening day of each quarter. By attending the courses their students will be taking, mentors are better able to provide guidance and feedback throughout the quarter on guided learning experiences and other issues.
- Guided learning experiences: To maximize their spiritual formation
and ministry skills development, students participate in customized
learning venues called guided learning experiences. Students work
in conjunction with the course professor and local ministry mentors,
and earn academic credit for their work.
- Spiritual formation: The seminary is vitally concerned with students’ character
development and spiritual formation. The curriculum promotes the
acquisition of godly attitudes, spiritual disciplines, and character
traits commensurate with Christian leadership ideals. Consistent
mentoring sessions between students and mentors are a vital part
of this aspect of the seminary’s theological education.
First-, second-, and third-year students participate in spiritual formation with their peers and a designated faculty member, and meet in the context of a discipleship group each week. (M.A. students participate in first- and second-year spiritual formation.) The discipleship groups play a significant, supportive role in the spiritual development of each student. At this time, students and faculty members meet to discuss issues of mutual concern in Christian living, to pray for one another, and to practice theological reflection.
- Community life: Students live in close proximity to the churches and ministries in which they are involved, rather than to the seminary. Classes are typically held one to two days a week, and as a result of these days of concentrated community, students find that their seminary friendships are as close as any they have experienced in previous educational environments. The adult education format, which depends on students responsibly participating in a learning community, supports an atmosphere of collegiality.
The Bethel Seminary Catalog is provided online as a convenience for those who desire course information in electronic form. The printed version of the Bethel Seminary catalog is the official version, and it will be treated as the document of record in all seminary business.