New, 8-week online courses open for registration

Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 19 to reflect the addition of six more courses that are being offered in the first term.

After months of planning, The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is launching eight-week courses for online students now available for registration, with the first term to begin on April 27, seminary officials announced today.

“Long before the novel coronavirus altered our spring semester, Southwestern Seminary academic administration was diligently developing this new, eight-week online course structure to assist students in expediting their theological education,” said President Adam W. Greenway. “In God’s providence, we’re now positioned to offer these new courses at a time when they will be especially meaningful to our students.”

Randy L. Stinson, provost and vice president for academic administration, stressed the academic rigor of the courses.

“Taught by full-time faculty of Southwestern Seminary, the eight-week courses are intensive offerings for our students to permit them to earn a semester’s worth of credit in just eight weeks,” Stinson said. He stressed that “students must be prepared to commit at least two hours of work, six days per week in order to keep pace in these courses.”

The eight-week courses are “part of the seminary’s effort to provide the best in theological education and ministry training for our students,” Stinson said. The courses can be applied to all relevant degree programs but will be beneficial especially to students enrolled in the Master of Theological Studies, a fully online 36-hour degree.

In the first term, nine courses are available, including: Old Testament I, New Testament I, Baptist Heritage, Family-Focused Church Ministry, Contemporary Evangelism, Introduction to Missiology, The Bible & Moral Issues, Church History II, and Foundations for Christian Ministry I. In the coming year, the seminary will offer six, eight-week terms, with an expanding number of courses to be offered. The courses are open to all students. During the term, students will have several opportunities to engage with residential professors through synchronously live Zoom sessions.

“At Southwestern Seminary, we are committed to serving the needs of the local churches, and we believe these eight-week courses advance that commitment with an even more accessible, yet academically rigorous program that delivers quality ministry training on an expedited schedule,” Stinson said.

Students may register for courses through Web Advisor. Prospective students should contact the Office of Admissions to learn how to become a student. For information about all of Southwestern Seminary’s online programs, visit swbts.edu/online.