If you’re considering full-time Christian ministry, you likely sense God’s call on your life and want to equip yourself academically for that calling. But you may also feel daunted by the prospect of completing four years of undergraduate work and then plowing ahead into another three years of seminary.
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Divinity
Anderson University’s BA+MDiv, a blended Bachelor of Arts and Master of Divinity program, will ease the burden on your time and wallet and will launch you into ministry sooner than many of your peers in other seminary programs.
Our theory is simple: why spend time and money repeating coursework? Because many students enter seminary with degrees in fields other than Christian studies, MDiv programs traditionally lay a rudimentary foundation in Christian studies before moving on to more advanced coursework. But for students with undergraduate degrees in theology and ministry, these early master’s courses can be redundant.
Master of Divinity in three semesters
AU’s BA+MDiv program allows you to streamline the process by crediting up to 30 undergraduate hours toward your master’s degree, leaving as few as 45 credit hours of the MDiv to complete. This means that you could earn your Master of Divinity in just three semesters—half the time it takes in traditional seminary programs.
Here’s how it works. As an undergraduate, you earn your BA at AU in either Christian Ministry or Christian Theology. Your first two years focus on general education and foundational Christian studies such as Biblical Hebrew and Greek, ministry practicums, and hermeneutics.
Once you complete at least 40 hours of undergraduate work, 15 of which must be in Christian studies, you can apply for the blended program. You’ll need a minimum GPA of 3.0, or a GPA of 3.3 in your Christian studies courses, along with a recommendation from a church where you are an active member.
Graduate-level coursework as an undergrad
After acceptance to the program, you’ll complete the final two years of your undergraduate degree while earning credit hours toward your master’s degree. You’ll attend the same classes as your peers who are not on the blended track, but your syllabi and assignments in your 300 and 400 level classes will reflect graduate-level coursework.
Following your graduation from the undergraduate program, you’ll complete the Master of Divinity degree. The graduate credits you have already earned will be applied to the MDiv.
At AU, we believe that a call to ministry is a call to prepare. Our MDiv program is intensely practical, with classes in evangelism, pastoral ministry, Christian ethics, and communication in ministry. Our faculty understand ministry on a practical level because most have served as full-time ministers. You’ll also have the opportunity to focus on areas that interest you—whether preaching, youth ministry, missions, or pastoral ministry.
We understand that your calling to ministry is both exciting and daunting. The blended program streamlines the educational process, allowing you to enter ministry sooner and with less financial burden. Our goal in the MDiv program is to equip you so that you can equip the church.