Monday, January 17, 2005

Reformed Seminary Curriculum

I learned tonight of an exciting new program in development by Richard Pratt, Third Millennium Ministries, and Reformed Theological Seminary. It's called the Reformed Seminary Curriculum. Here's the description on their website of the problem and their solution:

Most pastors in the world have no theological education and no way to obtain one. Third Millennium Ministries is working to meet this need by creating and distributing a high-quality, multimedia seminary curriculum in the major languages of underprivileged nations: Engish, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), and Russian.

Read more about this need and our specific approach to a solution.

Our goal is to complete a 60-hour accreditable masters curriculum consisting of 480 multimedia video lessons. Our existing catalog of materials is currently used in: North, Central and South America; Europe; Asia; Africa; and Australia.

Our president and all our featured teachers are Reformed seminary professors from fully accredited seminaries. Most of our staff members, from our writers and editors to our multimedia designers, are seminary graduates or students. Every one of our teachers and staff members is a committed Evangelical Christian.

The teachers who have taped video courses thus far are first-rate: John Frame (on ethics), Reggie Kidd (on Acts and Pauline letters), and Richard Pratt (on the Pentateuch, Hermeneutics, Intro to Theological Studies, and Kingdom, Covenants, & Canon).

Their goal is to create the full curriculum in five major languages over the next 15 years. The projected cost is $15 million. They are committed to free distribution in underprivileged countries. 95% of their funding comes through donations from individuals, churches, and foundations. If you would like to help support this worthy ministry, click here. You can also request an information packet suitable for presentation to your church's missions committee by emailing dev@thirdmill.org.