Seminary at Darby Community Church

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CONTEXTUALIZED LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Purpose: Most people don’t have the opportunity to move to one of the few town’s that have a theological institution (i.e., seminary), so does that mean that those people don’t have an opportunity to receive formal training? No, in fact, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) has a program intact that helps remedy this common situation and brings formal training to the confines of the local church. 

Description: MBTS has a program called, Contextualized Leadership Development (CLD). Through this program, qualified and vetted instructors can teach approved courses for MBTS at their local churches. These CLD courses are fully accredited, just as if you were taking the course in the seminary classroom. These courses are on the undergraduate level and fit the requirements of MBTS’s undergraduate school, Spurgeon College (SC).

Certification and Degree Options: CLD courses are fully accredited and go towards the many Bachelor and Associates degrees offered at SC. Up to 36 credit hours from CLD courses may be applied to an undergraduate degree at SC. There are also non-degree options for those who'd like to audit CLD courses. Upon completing four CLD courses, students receive an accredited certificate from MBTS! On top of this, through MBTS’s Advance Standing benefit, CLD courses can be counted towards a Masters degree at MBTS. Qualifying students may apply CLD courses to up to one-third of a Master’s degree. But, the greatest benefit to CLD courses is that they are tuition FREE!

CURRICULUM

Courses: Potential CLD courses that may be offered at Darby Community Church include courses on systematic theology, interpreting Scripture, church history, apologetics, evangelism, Old Testament, New Testament, etc.

What: Each curriculum is built to equip a Christian’s mind, emotions, and actions by building them up with robust teaching, exemplifying to them worship for God, and challenging them with practical homework. In other words, courses are biblically founded, theologically built, ministry focused, and practical for life. During each 8-week course, students can expect a weekly lecture that involves discussions, about 400-500 pages of reading, and a few assignments that will require students to apply what they’re learning.

Who: These courses are taught by three instructors: Daniel Fernandez, MDiv; Mark Narankevicius, MDiv; and Christopher Conti, DMin. This program is best suited for Christians looking for accountable, structured teaching that will challenge their understanding and application of Scripture. The program is particularly suited for those preparing for any type of ministry involvement. But, we’ve had students from all sorts of backgrounds, ranging from an elder of a church to a new Christian in the faith. It’s important to note that we are capping the class to only 25 students. 

When: We will offer four courses per year, one in each the Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Each course is 8-weeks long and lectures will be offered at Darby Community Church on Tuesday nights from 7:00PM to 9:00PM EST (we will also have an option to join online through a Zoom video call).

Why: This CLD program is unique because it is an opportunity for a person to dig a deep well from which they can draw from for a lifetime of service to God. It is not everyday that one can receive an accredited theological education inside of their own local church.

UPCOMING COURSE

Name: Christian Doctrine II

Description: A systematic and topical study of the Christian doctrines of Christ, the Holy Spirit, Salvation, the Church, and Eschatology(Future).

Syllabus

Dates: May 7 - July 1 (Spring-Summer, 2023)

*If you are interested in taking this course, but find yourself a little intimidated, consider reading The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction by Sinclair Ferguson. He will help prepare your mind and heart for the course.

For questions and inquiries please contact Danny Fernandez (dfaf716@gmail.com).