The Training of those for the Ministry

What happens when a student is proposed and sponsored by their local Wesleyan Methodist Church or their Independent Methodist Church to go forward as a possible student of the Independent Methodist Theological Seminary?

After initial contact, the Principal's office is better equipped to direct student study in one of the two directions that we advocate will accomplish his or her best religious educational goal.

Where a student wants to study theology as their major emphasis in study, then that student will be directed to to a solely religious theological education to achieve the theology degree structure.

At many other colleges and seminaries most students taking theological degrees are people who themselves want to teach theology at some stage or who want to add a religious education vocational theology degree to their secular educational academic achievements as another aspect of their personal education in order to enhance their educational acumen for employment purposes.

This would never happen in the Wesleyan Methodist Church also known as the  Independent Methodist Church, or its Church's Theological Seminary as the only way someone would be proposed and sponsored by their local church and Pastor to become a student of the Seminary is to study for our licensed and ordained ministry.

However, there may be the unusual occasion when, after licensing and ordination, that an individual may be called to a religious teaching vocation within the faculty of the Seminary, or a lecturer as part of the team at the Jacobus Arminius Courses of Theological Study Conference or Study days program.

Where a student is accepted to study for full time service to become a Minister, Pastor, Church Leader or Missionary, then that student will be directed to a religious Biblical studies structured education to achieve the Biblical studies degree structure. Students taking Biblical studies degrees depending on the particular student's developing religious education needs, the Principal's office may decide that a specialist major in a theology degree at some level may in fact be a good thing for that particular student.

In other words, although changing degree courses during study and course work for a degree which has already been embarked upon by the student is not possible, a student may elect to change directional emphasis after a degree has been gained and that student is now deciding, with agreement from the Principal's office, to start on a higher degree course of study. We recognize that individual students may decide to change their religious education's vocational emphasis as they advance and graduate in one degree and desire to proceed in their training.