Seminary to add Chaplain Ministries emphasis

Erskine College and Theological Seminary President Dr. Paul Kooistra has announced that the Erskine Seminary faculty recently voted to add a new Chaplain Ministries emphasis for the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree beginning in Fall 2016.

“This professional degree will prepare ministers of all denominations for ordination and service in the Armed Forces and in health care, correctional institutions, corporations, and in other organizations at a time when ministry demand is on the rise,” Acting Dean of the Seminary Dr. R.J. Gore said.

Gore is a retired Army chaplain (colonel) with nearly 30 years’ experience.

“The new M.Div. Chaplain Ministries emphasis program is an 84-hour degree,” Gore said.

“One-third of it can be completed online and two-thirds in residence as students use course intensives,” he explained. “They can also utilize our Columbia campus, located near the Armed Forces Chaplain Center and School at Fort Jackson, as well as our extension site in Augusta, Georgia, and our classes being taught in Charleston or Greenville.”

Dr. Michael A. Milton, who serves as chair of missions at Erskine Seminary as well as Command Chaplain of U.S. Military Intelligence (Reserve), is enthusiastic about the new program.

“The degree provides trusted Reformed scholarship in a highly accessible delivery system from one of America’s most historic seminary campuses,” Milton said.

“The M.Div. in Chaplain Ministries from Erskine Seminary is a gift to the Church, an ally to the Armed Forces Chaplaincy, and a source of ministry to the institutions that its future graduates will serve in the years to come.”

For more information, contact Enrollment Coordinator Robin Broome by phone at 864-379-6571, or by email at broome@erskine.edu.