Special Programs and Opportunities

Catalog–St. Paul

Theological Studies After Five

The seminary recognizes the increasing number of students who must work during the day and who prefer evening classes. Classes are offered each quarter on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for both regularly enrolled students and special students who wish to take graduate courses to expand their biblical and theological knowledge. The evening school program offers students the flexible options of taking one or more courses per quarter that may or may not be used to earn a degree. Most of these courses may then be applied toward completion of a Master of Divinity degree if the M.A. degree is not taken. Students who choose to continue on toward the M.Div. degree will choose courses from the regular day schedule. The Master of Arts (Theological Studies) can be earned by taking these evening courses exclusively.

SemPM (Modular Program)

The SemPM program offers a more structured approach to earning a seminary degree. This evening school program offers individuals with busy daytime schedules the opportunity to pursue a graduate theological degree, the Master of Arts (Theological Studies), while attending class one night per week. This degree is ideally suited to those who wish to explore theological issues more deeply and to integrate the knowledge into their vocations and interests. Students in the SemPM program are enrolled in eight courses per year and are considered full-time students.

InMinistry Master of Divinity Program

The InMinistry program is designed for individuals who are already established in ministry and are eager to pursue applied graduate education, but are able to spend only limited time on the seminary campus. This program makes it possible to complete a Master of Divinity degree in five years of continuous enrollment, or one of three different master of arts degrees in three years of continuous enrollment. These degree programs incorporate two types of courses. Intensive one-week sessions on campus are preceded by approximately three to five weeks of faculty-guided preparation using distance education methods and are followed by three to five weeks of guided application after the session. During non-intensive terms, faculty-guided distance education courses are supported by interactive technologies that allow students to learn from one another, as well as from the instructor and teaching materials.

Town and Country Ministry

As one of the five seminaries of the Minnesota Consortium of Theological Schools, Bethel participates in the Northland Ministry Partnership for Town and Country Renewal. Through this project, courses and other learning experiences are offered annually with a focus on ministry in small towns and rural areas.

Bethel Biblical Communication Initiative

Michael Binder, Director
Center for Transformational Leadership

In an effort to provide the best training possible to future communicators of the Gospel, Bethel Seminary St. Paul is in the process of re-envisioning how it will help prepare students to be effective preachers and communicators in the next generation. We are working to create training environments that will help students learn from the best communicators in the world and pastors who have and are building their churches through powerful biblical preaching, as well as receive ongoing mentoring opportunities with practitioners dedicated to their development. We want students to graduate with real life communication experience in ministry settings similar to those in which they will serve. To help make this a reality, we have assembled a team of consultants who currently model and serve as world class communicators, and charge them to evaluate and reform current course offerings and experiential communications opportunities to make Bethel the place to be trained as biblically based preachers and communicators to future generations.

Statement of Purpose

At Bethel Seminary we believe that effective biblical preaching changes lives and changes the world. This belief drives us to train leaders who serve as “bridge builders,” who take the ancient, authoritative text (which never changes) and apply it in a world that is constantly changing. On the one hand, we want to do our exegesis well—we want to craft messages that are hemeneutically sound and theologically astute. On the other hand, we realize that our goal is not to inform people, but rather to transform their lives. Through our preaching and teaching we want to produce people who are fully devoted followers of Christ. We want to develop people with Christ-like convictions, Christ-like character, and Christ-like conduct. That is the challenge and privilege of being a communicator of God’s Word in the 21st century.

Key Guiding Values

Personal Spiritual Formation
Solid Biblical Exegesis/Hermeneutics
Clear Structure and Communication Style
Insightful Understanding of Audience, Context and Culture

Course offerings may be found under Program of Study, in the Center for Transformational Leadership.

The Edwin J. Omark Preaching Competition

In keeping with the seminary’s theme, “The Servant of God Communicating the Word of God,” Dean Emeritus Edwin J. Omark established an annual preaching scholarship competition. This is offered to encourage proficiency in biblical preaching and to develop skill in writing and delivering a sermon. The contest is open to any full-time middler or senior student. Each contestant submits an original sermon of 2,500 words to be judged by a faculty panel. The top three finalists then deliver their sermons in chapel.

Zondervan Greek Award

In an effort to inspire and reward excellence in the study of New Testament Greek, Bethel Seminary (St Paul) is partnering with Zondervan Publishing Company to offer Zondervan’s Excellence in Greek Award. This award is given annually to the most outstanding student in Greek grammar and exegesis as determined by the New Testament faculty in consultation with other language instructors at the seminary. The winner will receive a prize of a Zondervan product of his or her choice, a commemorative medallion, and have his or her name engraved on a plaque displayed at the seminary library.

Alliances and Partnerships

Bethel Seminary’s primary strategic partnership is with the Baptist General Conference. Bethel Seminary also works closely with the more than 50 denominations represented by our student body. In addition, we have formal and targeted strategic partnerships with the following denominations, Christian organizations, and churches:

The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention of the Southern Baptist Church has established a scholarship program with Bethel Seminary St. Paul to provide theological education to future church leaders in Minnesota and Wisconsin. As part of this program, two courses, Baptist Distinctives and Southern Baptist History, are offered at Bethel Seminary St. Paul for Southern Baptist students and other interested students.
Bethel Seminary offers credit for six courses taught by the staff of Young Life.
Bethel is affiliated with Willow Creek Church and students may arrange for master’s degree credit in conjunction with the Willow Creek Leadership Conference and Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Please see the registrar for further details.
Bethel Seminary will grant one year of credit for course work completed at The Bethlehem Institute, a ministry of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. See the registrar for information before enrolling in TBI.
Bethel Seminary offers a Master of Arts in Christian Education with a Youth Ministries Concentration through a partnership with Youth Leadership, Inc., a graduate-level youth ministry training organization (see page 28).

See the Office of the Registrar for further information on these programs.

Lectureships and Convocations

Each year the seminary brings several guest speakers to campus. Local pastors have brought expositional sermons, and missionary representatives have exposed students to the Lord’s work in all parts of the world. Special lectures have addressed topics such as “Recent Developments in Theology,” “Nurturing Spiritual Growth,” and “The Status of Contemporary Adult Christian Education.” Speakers have included Leon Morris, William Hordern, Wesley Roberts, Wesley Willis, Richard Longenecker, Robert Gundry, James Lee, Alan Millard, Edwin Yamauchi, Pablo Deiros, and Mark A. Noll.

Adolf Olson Memorial Lectures

The Adolf Olson lectureship was established to perpetuate the memory of Professor Olson’s 40-year ministry at Bethel. It is designed to bring noted theologians to the seminary for lectures in biblical and theological fields. These lectures are presented at intervals as determined by the income from the trust fund that has been established. Presenters have included John Weborg speaking on “Spirituality: Questions and Quest”; Wolfhart Pannenberg addressing the subject “Christianity, Marxism, and Liberation Theology”; and Stanley Grenz lecturing on “The Gospel and the Star Trek Generation.”

Ebenezer Lectureship

The Ebenezer Lectureship was made possible by a special fund given to Bethel Seminary by the former Ebenezer Baptist Church of Duluth, Minnesota. Ray Bakke, formerly pastor of Fairfield Avenue Baptist Church in Chicago, brought the inaugural Ebenezer Lectureship, “Issues in Urban Pastoral Ministry,” in April of 1978. Subsequent lecturers have included Saphir Athyal, Walter Brueggemann, Carl F. H. Henry, Howard Hendricks, Bruce Waltke, and Eugene Nida.

The Howard Carlson Memorial Lectureship in Pastoral Ministries

The Howard Carlson Lectureship was established by the family of the Reverend Howard Carlson, former executive minister of the Southwest Baptist Conference, and is designed to emphasize the practical areas of ministry, such as evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and counseling. The first Howard Carlson Lectureship was held in October 1984, and brought William E. Pannell, professor of evangelism and black studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, to address current issues in evangelism.

The Transforming Church Initiative

One of the best ways to infuse our seminary with the passion and ethos of churches God is using greatly is to bring their key leadership to share themselves in person. Each year, a day is set aside for the entire seminary community and area pastors and their ministry teams to hear from church leaders whose passion is to reach unchurched peoples and help them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. In October 1996, Bill Hybels and the ministry team from Willow Creek Community Church of Barrington, Illinois, presented the first annual Transformational Church Series. In October 1997, the seminary hosted Erwin McManus and the ministry team from Mosaic (formerly The Church on Brady), a multiethnic ministry team from East Los Angeles. In October 1998, attendees were joined by Tony Evans and the ministry team from Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas. In the fall of 1999, Gordon and Gail MacDonald from Grace Chapel, Lexington, Massachusetts, focused on spiritual and personal formation issues. In October 2000, the seminary hosted Henry Blackaby, revival leader and author of Experiencing God, who presented “A Fresh Encounter for Transformational Leaders.” In October 2001, Wayne Cordeiro and the staff and ministry teams from New Hope Christian Fellowship in Hawaii presented the sixth conference in the series. The seventh event, in 2002, featured the return of Bill Hybels and the team from Willow Creek Community Church. In 2003, seminary students and local lay ministers heard from Joel C. Hunter and the team from Northland: A Church Distributed of Longwood, Florida. In 2004, the series featured Peter Scazzero and the New Life Fellowship team from Queens, New York. In 2005, Erwin McManus and the ministry team from Mosaic partnered with Bethel for a two-day event focused on “Transformed Heart, Transformed Church.” And in 2006 Bethel again hosted a two-day conference featuring Pastor John Jenkins exploring the theme “Journey to Another Level.”

Students who are enrolled in on-campus programs in St. Paul are required to attend the Transforming Church Initiative. Students in Master of Arts programs will attend a minimum of two conferences during their seminary years. Students in the Master of Divinity program will attend a minimum of three conferences during their degree program.

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.