Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter

President Bethel Bible College conducts a class with some of the students of the institution.

With its new status Bethel joins the ranks of three other local institutions that have had their theological programmes accredited by the UCJ. These institutions are: the Jamaica Theological Seminary, the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, and the Institute for Theological and Leadership Development. -Contributed photo

A major, but little known milestone was passed by Bethel Bible College in Mandeville, earlier this year when it secured accreditation from the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) for its two major programmes of study.

The UCJ is a statutory organisation which functions as the state's quality assurance body for post-secondary education. The UCJ, in April, accredited the school's Diploma in Theology programme as well as its Bachelor of Arts in Theology degree.

With its new status Bethel joins the ranks of three other local institutions that have had their theological programmes accredited by the UCJ. These institutions are the Jamaica Theological Seminary, the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, and the Institute for Theological and Leadership Development.

The accreditation of the school was the top priority of its president, Rev. Barrington Brown, when he took over in 2000. Rev. Brown, who is himself an alumnus of Bethel, said that in addition to UCJ accreditation, the institution enjoys similar status among the schools owned and operated by the New Testament Church of God denomination.

Divine Call

Bethel Bible College was founded in 1943 by the New Testament Church of God. It was set up largely to train persons who expressed a divine call to become pastors. Its focus has since been largely pastor-centric. But in recent years, it has sought to equip persons for non-pastoral offices within churches such as evangelists, Christian education directors, music directors, youth pastors, Sunday school superintendents.

Rev. Brown said that about 90 per cent of the pastors serving the 300-odd congregations of the New Testament Church of God were graduated from Bethel Bible College. In the New Testament Church of God, women are eligible to become pastors. Though other theological schools in Jamaica have had in recent years, far more women than men enrolling to do the major programmes of study, that has not been reflected in Bethel. According to Rev. Brown the school has 77 full-time students at this time of which about 10 per cent are women.

In addition to its diploma and degree programmes, Bethel also offers certificate courses for lay persons in church who want to deepen their theological knowledge and ministry skills. It is at this level that women are marginally in higher enrolment than their male counterparts, Rev. Brown disclosed.

Much of the certificate education is facilitated through four extension schools of Bethel Bible College located in Lucea, Montego Bay, Portland and Kingston. Altogether, there are about 130 students enrolled in these extension schools.

Buoyed by the conferrment of accreditation, Bethel Bible College is exploring a new degree programme - a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education with emphases in social work, early childhood education, and family life. It is on track to come on stream next September, said Rev. Brown.

Relevant courses

Bethel Bible College strives to make its courses relevant to the Jamaican context by giving careful attention to the calibre of its teaching staff and by paying careful attention to those who supervise the internships of their students.

Rev. Brown said the teaching faculty is comprised of five part-time and five full-time teachers, all of whom are committed to ensuring that learning happens with contextual relevance.

The degree programme which runs for four years, requires third-year students to log 12 consecutive weeks as ministry interns. The interns are deployed mostly in the Manchester, Clarendon and St. Elizabeth. It is the feedback given by the supervisors of these ministry interns that helps to inform the curriculum of the course offerings at Bethel Bible College, Rev. Brown said.

Rev. Brown is concerned about the primacy of theological education among persons who enrol in theological institutions.

He observed a trend in which theological students are studying less of the traditional Bible and theology courses. Instead, these students opt to do more psychology and guidance-related courses.

He said too that many, having completed their bachelor's in theology, do not go on to a master's in the same field, but instead opt for post-graduate qualifications in counselling and psychology. While hinting at his own disappointment with the trend, Rev. Brown acknowledged that this progression was influenced largely by economic considerations. He said pastors are seeking to make themselves more marketable. With more counselling qualifications, pastors, he said, are able to land jobs in schools as guidance counsellors to supplement their often inadequate salaries.

Functions

Though pastors are increasingly functioning in administrative and management capacities in churches, few theological institutions offer meaningful preparation for such functions. Rev. Brown said the effective administrative and management function of pastors has been a concern at Bethel. In that regard, he said, the school has begun to address those matters by offering within the internship programme, seminars on a range of administrative and management subjects. These include personal finance, corporate finance, basic accounts and budgeting.

But even more important than the administrative and management abilities is the inner life of the pastor. The school, he said, places strong emphasis on character and spiritual formation.

From as early as one's first year of study, students are placed in accountability groups comprised of four persons. Students quiz each other on the spiritual progress made. The groups meet once per week and each member has to account for his/her spiritual well-being. Each member has to embrace at least two spiritual disciplines for each semester and read a book outside of the curriculum that will offer guidance on spiritual formation. Furthermore, the school insists that each student be meaningfully involved in the life of a local church as one safeguard to secure spiritual maturation. Rev. Brown said that at the tertiary level, students are often lonely, and feel isolated and it is at that time when they become particularly vulnerable.

As the institution continues to prepare persons for Christian ministry, Rev. Brown said it faces a major challenge to secure funds to erect new buildings on its two-acre property. There is need, he said, for more classrooms, a students' services centre and a recreational area.

Another urgent challenge, he said, is to secure more books for the school library. Right now, he said, the school is over reliant on an online database company through which students are able to read books for their assignments.

Send feedback on Mind&Spirit to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com.