The Board of Trust of Anderson University recently approved a measure to create the Clamp Divinity School within the University’s College of Christian Studies. The school, which will welcome its first class this fall, will focus on the preparation of leaders for local churches, missionary service, and other ministries.
“We believe that this new divinity school will be an outstanding resource for the churches of our region,” said AU President Evans Whitaker. “The ‘Clamp Divinity School’ will maintain the high academic standards of Anderson University while also providing practical training in ministry for those who will lead our churches in the future.”
In addition to hosting existing AU ministry training programs, including the Master of Ministry and Doctor of Ministry degrees, the Divinity School will offer a new Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree along with a blended BA/M.Div. degree that allows undergraduates in Christian Studies to get a head start on the M.Div. degree, thus saving up to two years off the normal time used to earn the BA and M.Div. These program offerings will commence in the fall of 2014 with the approval of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Anderson’s accrediting body.
“The blended BA/M.Div. will allow a strong student to apply 30 hours of their undergraduate biblical, theological and ministry courses toward the M.Div. program,” according to Michael Duduit, Dean of AU’s College of Christian Studies. “This will leave them just three semesters to complete the second degree, rather than the traditional three years, saving students time and money in preparing for ministry.”
The Master of Divinity is the standard theological degree offered by most seminaries and divinity schools in the U.S. It is typically a three-year program, which follows four years of undergraduate study. The M.Div. degree awaits final approval this summer from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-COC). Plans are to launch the program in the fall semester of 2014.
The school bears the name of David T. Clamp, whose $8 million estate gift in 2008 was the largest gift in the school’s 103-year history. The gift funded the creation of the Clamp Graduate School of Christian Ministry, which now becomes the Clamp Divinity School.
Additional information on graduate degrees available through the Clamp Divinity School is available at www.auministry.com, or by calling the College of Christian Studies at (864) 328-1809.