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Fall 2009 | Volume 68, No. 1
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New Concentrations, Same Focus for Southwestern Seminary
by Southwestern News Staff
Southwestern now offers new concentrations in family ministry and in missions for students pursuing the Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Christian Education, and Bachelor of Arts in Humanities degree programs.
The new, cross-disciplinary family ministry concentration is for students pursuing either the Master of Divinity or the Master of Arts in Christian Education degree programs.
This concentration is unique to Southwestern and is the product of extensive research, said Chris Shirley, assistant professor of adult ministry at Southwestern.
Richard Ross, assistant dean in the School of Educational Ministries, agrees with Shirley and said that this focus on enriching the family as a whole “has become a hot topic,” though it has never been a new idea for Southwestern Seminary.
“Every childhood, youth, and adult professor has been infusing his or her courses with a family ministry focus all along,” Ross said. “I am thankful that the new concentration will give cohesion and visibility to the high-quality instruction already in place.”
For the missions concentration, the College at Southwestern (CSW) is partnering with the International Mission Board (IMB) by pairing students with missionaries. Students then have the ability to earn most of the concentration’s credit hours while serving on the field.
The “Hands On” missionary program, a semester-long appointment offered through the IMB, is the context for the linguistics, evangelism, and missions practicums for students pursuing the missions concentration. Students will earn up to 12 of the 15 hours by working alongside these missionaries in Bible distribution, mercy ministries, demographic research, and other activities that advance the goal of planting churches in the region.
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