My intent also is to share my record with others who want to learn more about God, but who aren't able to attend a seminary (No, I don't think going to seminary is the only way to learn more about God, but it definitely is a way and I want to share that way.)
And this is what I will do. First, I will share the texts I read. Next, I will share the essays I wrote after reading those texts. These essays maybe my class assignments, or some of my personal thoughts on those texts. A big chunk of my education will be from my professors' lectures, but I won't be sharing those because my plan is not to regurgitate my professors' lectures. That will be too boring (and may have copyright issues). Instead, I will let the teachings of my professors be manifested in my essays. This way, the audience of this blog (including myself) will get two things out of this blog: (1) the resources (books, articles, videos, etc) used in seminary classes, (2) how a seminary student responded to those resources.
In order to be organized in my record keeping, on the bottom of this page is a table with the course requirements for the distance learning option of the Master of Divinity degree at Calvin Theological Seminary (for students starting in Fall, 2018). You can click on each class to get to the post containing a brief description of that class, resources used, and links to my essays.
In addition to the listed coursework, MDiv students at Calvin must complete a total of 600 hours in two separate internships, and I will write essays as I complete these internships as well. The details of the internships are as follows:
- 400 hours of Pastoral Internship that is ordinarily completed in a pastoral ministry context.
- 200 hours of Cross Cultural Internship which requires students to engage a ministry context that is different economically, ecumenically, or ethnically (with at least 2 of these being different from the student’s dominant experience in ministry and/ or life).
* If you are interested in going to a seminary, also check out this reading list from Calvin Theological Seminary: Reading List for Spiritual Growth or Ministry Preparation
| Year | Summer | Fall | Spring |
| 1 | Bible Survey (3)* Gateway Orientation | Church in Historical Context I (3)* Greek Fundamentals I (3)* Introduction to Missional Ministry (2) Formation Group (1) | Church in Historical Context II (3)* Greek Fundamentals II (3)* Theological Education as Formation for Ministry (2) Formation Group (1) |
| January Term | Biblical Interpretation for Ministry (1) | ||
| 2 | Christian Theology in Reformed Confessions (3)* Elective (2) | Biblical Hebrew I (3) Preaching Theory & Methods (2) New Testament Narratives (3) Formation Group (1) | Biblical Hebrew 2 (3) New Testament Letters (3) Evangelism & Cross-Cultural Ministry (2) |
| 3 | Elective (2) Cross-Cultural Internship (2) | OT Narrative Literature (3) Systematic Theology 1 (3) Forming Worshiping Communities (2) Formation Group (1) | Foundations for Pastoral Care (3) Psalms & Wisdom Literature or Old Testament Prophetic Literature (3) Elective (2) |
| 4 | Christian Reformed Church History (1.5)** Christian Reformed Church Polity (1.5)** | Preaching Practicum 1 (1) Discipleship & Teaching (2) Elective (2) Elective (2) Formation Group (1) | Apologetics (2) Systematic Theology II (3) Ethics & the Christian Life (3) |
| 5 | Christian Engagement with World Religions (3)* Pastoral Ministry Internship (4) | Pastoral Disciplines for Counseling Ministries (3) Leadership in Ministry (3) Elective (2) Formation Group (1) | Preaching Practicum II (2) Capstone: Integrative Seminar (2) Elective (2) |
*Courses with possibility for advanced standing
** Only required for CRC canditates for ministry
