What Educational Requirements Are Needed for Pastoral Ministry?
It depends. If you are younger and have an undergraduate degree, we encourage you to pursue a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from a highly accredited seminary. We have been working with Evangelical Seminary within Kairos University to provide reasonable educational options for those seeking degrees. If you have a different Masters degree, we can help you receive a supplemental certificate for an M.Div. equivalency with us. If you are older and are seeking training, we provide courses through the Institute for Church Leadership (ICL).
Find Out More About Outcome-Based Education
In this new Kairos model of education, students can benefit from the following:
- Theologically-Informed Outcome-Based Education which intersects the contextual experience of one’s local ministry more deeply with seminary education. Additionally, students will be evaluated on an educational rubric that combines knowledge, character, and ability toward a more holistic view of their ministry readiness.
- Supervision from a Mentor Team which is composed of three mentors (faculty, professional, and personal) who will speak into the educational goals of the student.
- Subscription-Based Tuition which greatly reduces the cost to students by allowing them to take courses based on one overall monthly subscription cost of $300/month for most degree programs, including M.Divs.
- Kairos Project Course Availability which provides a network of courses across all participating seminaries and allows for some customization.
- Synchronous-Asynchronous Cohort Learning which allows students to participate within a cohort, while attending class in person, online, or taking part offline during the course offering.
We are not only excited about what this means for our role in providing our students better outcomes and significant opportunities in education, but also for the invitation to allow our leaders to speak into the process of each student’s pursuits more significantly.
The Wesleyan-Arminian Heritage of the EC Church
The Evangelical Congregational Church holds and practices a doctrinal heritage that is rooted in Wesleyan-Arminian theological teachings. These theological perspectives have guided us and others to be a warm expression of orthodox Christian belief for centuries. As a result, the EC Church advances the gospel missionally and holds certain postures in regard to community and the world that naturally flow from these stated beliefs.
How to Support Our Students in Ministry
Every year in September the Evangelical Congregational Church provides bulletin inserts to remind our congregations to pray for and support our students through the annual Student Aid offering. If you are interested in supporting our students financially, please click on the link below to donate to the student aid offering at any time of the year
