UTS—Freshly Packaged!
Contributed by the Ministry and Education Teams
Earlier this year the ministry and education teams conducted an educational survey amongst Unificationist pastors, youth pastors, and other ministry leaders and learned there is a desire for access to ongoing education on topics like ministry leadership, the teachings of the Divine Principle, preaching and the life and legacy of Rev. Moon, among other topics.
It didn’t take long for this team to pair up with the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS)—a treasure trove of teachers, pastors, and educational content—to figure out the best way to meet the needs of our local pastors. It was decided we bring UTS to them through online classes, instead of bringing our ministry leaders to UTS.
Two five-week courses have taken place to date reaching across the U.S., the Caribbean, and throughout Europe. The first course was “Growing My Church” with Dr. Demetrius Carolina, the focus of which was to help ministry leaders define their vision and mission and then create a five-year plan to stay on target. Dr. Carolina spoke mostly from direct experience to pastors from diverse churches all around the world and engaged, worked with, and encouraged everyone.
The second course was “Exploring the Divine Principle” with Dr. Andrew Wilson. He dove deeply with students into the purpose of creation, focusing on the chapters that dealt with the dual characteristics of God, give and take action, the four-position foundation and many more of the teachings from the Divine Principle. He showed a deep knowledge of the chapter dealing with the principle of creation and expertise in presenting an academic study that includes the heart.
To better serve an ever growing number of new and young leaders as well as the seasoned ministry leaders, we’re taking the next step: this fall, the ministry and education teams, together with UTS, will be offering a one-year certificate program online. Of course this isn’t just open to only ministry leaders; it’s for anyone who has an interest or passion in pastoring and ministry leadership. Individuals can also elect single classes to fit their schedules. Here is a list of the courses available in September 2014.
- Spiritual Formation
- Pastoral Leadership
- Apologetics: a case for Unificationism
- Preaching
- Life and Legacy of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
- Exploring the Divine Principle
Our hope and desire is to provide our community with unrestricted access to education and professional ministry training. We have access to incredible teachers and experts in the field who are eager to share what they have learned and experienced along their life’s journey. And we have others wanting to build a solid educational foundation and learn skill sets to hone in their abilities.
Stay tuned for more information about the online course and to learn more about how you can get involved.