JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 8, 2013 — This fall the School of Theology and Missions at 51社区 has launched its first fully online master鈥檚 degree program.
The new Master of Christian Studies program is an online adaptation of the existing degree, and the program targets bivocational pastors and missionaries locally and abroad.
鈥淚t broadens our reach from a provincial west Tennessee perspective, to one that meets the needs of people literally around the world,鈥� said Hayward Armstrong, the MCS program director.
Armstrong said Union developed the new degree in partnership with the North American Mission Board.
The online MCS exists primarily as an accessible educational option for missionaries in training or abroad.
NAMB has developed a scholarship for bivocational pastors called the 鈥淚ron Man鈥� scholarship to reflect the resilience of bivocational pastors working a job and ministering to the community.
This degree is a step forward for the School of Theology and Missions, Armstrong said, helping it to equip and prepare the next generation of pastors and missionaries using new technologies and techniques.
The degree was originally a 42-hour program, but the online version has been narrowed down to 33 hours. It consists of 11 courses taught year-round in eight-week accelerated formats.
Armstrong said that the program begins in August each year and a student could finish the program in 12 months if he or she takes two courses per term.
For more information about the degree, visit .