Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Evangelical Seminary & University

The Evangelical Seminary and University provides a foundation Biblical and theological education for local bi-vocational pastors and leaders of local churches who have not had an opportunity to obtain seminary education. I believe students will want to especially focus on classes that will help them in their ministry.
The specialty area of Evangelical Seminary is the courses and special training in Evangelism. Our president, Dr. Gary Williams, and Vice-President, Mr. Bob Westlake, are excellent Bible scholars and teachers of God’s Word in basic courses each semester. Dr. Michael Lewis, Plant City FBC pastor and national SBC Lifeway trainer of FAITH Sunday Evangelism, offers a course with applied leadership training each semester in personal evangelism. Other local pastors (Dr. Benny Keck, etc.) and missionaries-pastors (Dr. Danny L. Morris, etc.) offer courses not only providing Biblical scholarship but also providing coaching, mentoring, and encouraging in their ministry. Excellent Bible scholars are teaching God’s Word and providing good foundations for pastors and laity in their preaching and teaching of God’s Word. These courses and study with ESU are sometimes noted to be more valuable than internet courses or courses from accredited schools. Following the study with ESU the students will have a more excellent Biblical background and a more excellent ministry to bless God and His people. It builds a great foundation for clergy and laity to serve God effectively.
Technology is enabling a number of schools to do internet or virtue courses. Accredited courses and degrees may be obtained through this method; ESU recognizes the values of those courses and may offer some in the future. However, they affirm that there is no replacement for the mentoring provided through the personal touch offered through a local relationship. Personally, I believe it is essential to have this personal and applied ministry education process.
Three years ago I began serving as a trustee in the founding of the Evangelical University & Seminary. The financial undertaking and my commitment to SBC seminaries and colleges made me a very reluctant participant. I saw the school as a competitor to these other schools. I saw that churches may have to cut their giving to Cooperative Program and local Association. Funding the school would not only be difficult but diminish further the mission giving to existing organizations.
The school is not accredited with any accreditation organization. However, the University is in process of application for accreditation with the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE). There is not an assurance of a date or that such accreditation will be secured. If or when the University is accredited, the courses or degrees will not be retroactive to the accreditation. Students are not assured that any class will be accepted by or transferable to other schools or that the degree will be recognized by any other education institution. The courses and degrees granted are recognized as advanced Biblical and theological education exclusively under the guidelines of the trustees and faculty of Evangelical University and Seminary.
Some have asked since it is not accredited and is more comparable to a Bible School or Institute why call it a University? Perhaps the school has taken some liberty in that issue because of the passion and vision of what they want to become. It is more a goal of becoming a University than it is being a University. However, it is licensed with the state of Florida to grant degrees and has granted both bachelor and master degrees. This by some standards allows the name. The school has taken advantage of that liberty but acknowledges its limitations to their students.
Others have been concerned as to the theological beliefs of the school, the conservative ethical values, and whether or not the school would affirm the Southern Baptist faith as expressed in the Baptist Faith and Message. Would it be a hyper-Calvinist view or an Arminianism theological view? The trustees and the faculty have addressed each of these issues. The trustees and faculty declares a central view of the Calvinist/Arminianism deliberation and focuses on the Biblical Evangelist mandate that God’s son gave in the Great Commission. The trustee affirms the conservative Biblical evangelical views as indicated in the Baptist Faith and Message and expressed in the 2010 SBC resurgence of the Great Commission.
Evangelical University & Seminary is a school that serves the bi-vocational and small churches of our area. It’s goal is to provide a solid conservative Biblical and Theological Education to the hundred’s of men and women who are within the West Central Florida region. It provides Biblical and theological education for lay teachers, pastors, missionaries, church planters, and students in preparing for the ministry. It has a heart for the bi-vocational pastor who has accepted God’s call but cannot afford to leave a job, move their family, and go a distance to earn a degree to prepare for the ministry. Among Southern Baptist churches 81 % of our churches are small churches with 125 average attendances in Sunday school or Sunday Morning Worship. Only 1 % have 1000 or above in attendance. That means of the 45,010 SBC churches 30,000 of them are small churches. (Source: Bivocational & Small Church Leadership Network BSCLM web page:
www.bivosmallchurch.net)
Historically, these churches and bivocational pastors are the most productive and essential to reach the lost. These churches cannot afford a fully funded (full time) pastor. Those able may pay up to $35,000 annual salary. However, more and more are finding necessary to call a bivocational with an annual salary of around $10,000.
Many of the pastors have accepted the call after they have established their family, home, career, and could serve the churches if they have affordable local education. Personally, I understand the issue. Three of the churches I served over a fifteen year period were small churches where I was a bi-vocational pastor. Four of the small struggling churches I have served over the past seven years have been bi-vocational churches. If I had not had a Baptist College in my home town of Campbellsville Kentucky, Southern Baptist Seminary within 80 miles of my home, and parents willing to help me as I bi-vocationally worked through the educational process, I would have not been able to fulfill the calling God extended.
Evangelical Seminary and University has now had three years of providing that opportunity. Every month I am finding churches in our Association or beyond blessed by that wonderful opportunity provided to their pastors and leadership. I praise God for the trustees, faculty, churches, and supporters making the school possible. I rejoice at the report given at last week’s board meeting that the school is becoming self sufficient. Obviously it is a challenge to pay faculty or to pay them sufficient wages. The school is blessed to have a spirit of volunteerism as they continue to grow. Also, the school will need a tremendous amount of additional funding over the coming years and a foundation of stability to get accreditation from ABHE. However, the trustees and faculty are passionately committed to following the guide-lines and developing such foundations to provide the quality of the education for the current students and the future students.