Archive for November, 2009
Online Pastoral Degree Programs: Where to start?
If you just started browsing to see if there were any online options for you and you’re looking to get a pastoral degree, you’re probably a little (a lot!) surprised and overwhelmed by all the options available. It seems like everywhere you look there’s yet another online pastoral degree program popping up. So where do you start?
Know What Degree Type You Need for Ordination
It’s an obvious first step but many people don’t realize it, because they aren’t aware of just how specific a denomination’s ordination requirements can be, or just how much those requirements can vary. For many denominations, your bachelor’s degree can be in anything at all–it doesn’t have to be religiously oriented. In these denominations, however, you’re probably going to have either a graduate school degree requirement (like a Master of Divinity) or extensive training in an education program specific to your church. In other denominations, you could get an undergraduate online pastoral degree and be done.
Knowing these requirements will help you narrow down your search considerably right from the start.
Know What Career Path You Want to Follow
Well, you say, I want to be a pastor, isn’t that obvious? But an online pastoral degree isn’t just for pastors, and in fact, there’s really not any job description that is “just a pastor.” Pastors fulfill different roles in the church. Even if you want to preach and lead a congregation, your denomination may expect pastors to specialize in some way. This could be counseling, education, youth ministry–and there are online pastoral degree programs that are geared toward these, and other concentrations, too. For example, there are online degrees for pastors that are focused on evangelism. Or maybe you want to run a charity as a pastor. There are many different ‘hats’ a pastor may wear.
|
|