HARDIN-SIMMONS TO OFFER MASTER OF DIVINITY BEGINNNG IN THE FALL OF ’95
The Logsdon School of Theology of Hardin-Simmons University is currently accepting students for its new Master of Divinity program, which will begin in the fall of 1995. The establishment of this new degree is the culmination of several years of planning by the Logsdon faculty. From the beginning the faculty and administration have been committed to offering a degree that will make a distinctive contribution to theological education among Texas Baptists.
Several basic principles guided the faculty in its commitment to develop an effective program for the preparation of ministers to serve the churches:
The program must reflect the university’s commitment to its Baptist heritage of the lordship of Christ alone and the priesthood of every believer under Chris’s lordship.
The program must be characterized by academic excellence in the pursuit of understanding the Bible an the Christian heritage.
The curriculum will attempt to meet the student at the point of his or her readiness for gradate theological education. The individual’s degree program will be correlated with foundational study the student has previously completed.
The degree plan will offer the opportunity for concentration in an area of study that will be most appropriate to the ministry God has called the student.
The program will include significant ministry based learning in which the student under supervision can create academic understanding to the need for ministry and leadership skills.
The resulting Logsdon Master of Divinity is a 90 semester hour degree program consisting of 67 hours in foundational or core courses and a minimum of 2 hours in one of three areas of concentration —Biblical, Theological, or Ministry Studies. A unique feature of the degree provides that students who have completed appropriate foundational courses in religion in their undergraduate study hold a degree from a regionally accredited college or university may have up to 42 semester hours applied to their master’s program. Each student will be required to take a minimum of 48 semester hours of graduate courses to complete the degree.
The degree will also require students to gain ministry experience under supervision in the churces.An innovative approach to mentoring will provide each student the opportunity to have personal guidance in matters of academic advising,spiritual formation, and theological reflect on on ministry experience.
Hardin-Simmons is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to offer baccalaureate and Masters degrees.
The correlation and concentration features of the degree have attracted a great deal of interest from prospective students. The Logsdon School recognizes the quality of education in religion being provided by the faculties of Baptist colleges and universities and in other institutions. The faculty has sought to affirm the student’s undergraduate experience in the design of our M.Div. degree. As the degree is implemented, the faulty will continue to explore ways the program can be related constructively to the undergraduate and graduate curricula in other colleges and universities.
In addition to the degree design, prospective students have been impressed with the excellent facilities for the program. The Logsdon complex provides an awe-inspiring chapel, well equipped classrooms, a reading room and areas for individual study. Faculty offices are readily accessible to the students. Few institutions in the nation are as well equipped with the facilities for graduate theological education.
Student will have access not only to the Hardin-Simmons library but also to the library resources of the two other Abilene universities, Abilene Christian and McMurry, through a unique library consortium agreement. Students will also have the opportunity to explore the possibility of taking course work in other disciplines with the university as part of their M.Div. degree plan. This provides the potential for breadth in the degree which is not possible in most free standing seminaries.
Students who are interested in discussing the degree requirements, application process, and financial aid may call Dr. Davis at 1-800-996-MDIV (996-6348).
April 1995