 |
Wow! It's hard keeping a secret - especially when that secret is something you know the other person will be delighted to hear, and when you know how much time, effort, and planning went into the project nobody's talking about. Add to that the implications for expanding the Kingdom of God through evangelism and discipleship, and you have a secret that's very difficult to keep. So we'll tell you - now that the agreement has been made and the plans will unfold shortly.
Faith Seminary, Answers In Action, and our home church, Prince of Peace, are establishing an Orange County branch of the seminary that will enable Christians to "study to show themselves approved" in an outstanding graduate program of biblical, theological, and apologetic studies. For quite some time we have been quietly toiling toward graduate degrees through Faith Seminary and in the process we have had an opportunity to see the value, adaptability, and economy of a program that combines classroom teaching with distance learning and off-site courses to give students the ability to pursue graduate biblical studies either toward a graduate degree for Christian ministry or as a personal enrichment program. As we have turned in our materials and worked through the courses we have been impressed with the content and biblical focus of the curriculum. With the adaptability to add new courses and new campuses, Faith Seminary is ideal for the kinds of Christians who appreciate the ministry of Answers In Action.
Founded more than 30 years ago, Faith Seminary is Lutheran in its heritage and theological confession, but embraces the broader evangelical community in faculty, student body, and breadth of conservative biblical positions represented in its curriculum. President R. H. Redal and Dean Michael Adams (who is also Professor of Applied Theology) have our respect for their well-balanced commitment to historical theology and contemporary Christian expression. One of our very close friends, Dr. H. Wayne House, is Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies and Apologetics at Faith, and he was instrumental in introducing us to the program and arranging our own course of studies. Faith is accredited by TRACS, USDHE, and CHEA. The seminary has a strong commitment to missions, including domestic missions like Answers In Action, and sponsors campuses in Korea and Tonga. It is possible to obtain a graduate degree or simply complete courses of personal interest without leaving your home. One can also complete his program entirely on campus in Tacoma, Washington, or combine the options.
With the new agreement among Faith, the Passantinos, and Prince of Peace, plans are now under way to open an Orange County program at Prince of Peace. We will be integrally involved in the program, including recruiting, teaching, arranging for outstanding adjunct and visiting faculty, and coordinating curriculum between Tacoma and California. One of the important features of a Faith Seminary education is that it is roughly half the cost of most seminary educations, in spite of its strong commitment to academic excellence and high standards for its faculty, students, and curriculum.
At this time we believe that the Orange County program can launch in the fall of this year. That's not much time to have all the elements come together - including an enthusiastic student body - to make this program a success. If you are interested in attending Faith Seminary (Tacoma, long distance, or especially Orange County), let us know right away and we will get you further information. Or, you can find out more about Faith from its Web site (www.faithseminary.edu). Please let us hear from you right away. We need to know that we can gather enthusiastic students to take advantage of our first Orange County course offerings. Your response helps us to gauge how many courses of what types we can include in our initial term of Orange County study. If you contact Faith, please be sure to say you heard about it through Answers In Action.
We are so excited about this fulfillment of a dream we have harbored for decades for our ministry to provide a bridge between practical apologetics and academic studies that we tend to forget to mention our own work at Faith. We can never thank Dr. Adams, Dr. House, or Faith Seminary enough for their assistance in providing us the program by which we can earn graduate degrees. In a later mailing we'll tell you more about our own program, degrees, and when they will be awarded. Right now we want all the attention on how you can benefit from our partnership with Faith Seminary.
Please also remember Answers In Action and the Passantinos in your prayers and support. We are finishing teaching two introductory classes at Prince of Peace in addition to our ongoing AIA classes. We will be in Illinois at the beginning of July, teaching at the Cornerstone Festival. We will present six hours on "One Church, Three Expressions: Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Catholicism." Later in the summer we will lead more classes in parish education at Prince of Peace as well as our ongoing Answers In Action classes. And of course, there's our regular AIA work, including continuing evangelism and discipleship dialog by E-mail, correspondence, and phone; field trips; outreaches to non-believers of a variety of types, and mentoring. Without your prayers and financial support, we cannot continue impacting the world as we do for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Bob and Gretchen Passantino
P.S. Although we hate to be involved in disputes among Christians, recently Dr. D. James Kennedy has publicly and, we believe, unbiblically and untruthfully, accused Hank Hanegraaff of unchristian behavior. We could not remain silent when a respected evangelical leader errs so blatantly. Our response has been delivered to Dr. Kennedy and Mr. Hanegraaff and will be posted on our Web site shortly. In the meantime, if you would like a copy, please let us know and we will forward it to you either electronically or by hard copy. We pray that the Devil will not gain a foothold against the good work of CRI through the petty thoughtlessness of those who should know better.
|
Answers In Action
P.O. Box 2067
Costa Mesa, California 92628
(949) 646 9042
Answers In Action c/o aia@answers.org