Director of Continuing Education appointed

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Prof. Richard Gurgel to the position of director of continuing education (CE). A reconfiguration of current teaching assignments will allow Gurgel to devote half of his time to planning, promoting, and delivering a stronger and broader CE program at the seminary. Gurgel has completed initial research on CE with called workers in every district of the synod. This research has been, and will continue to be, invaluable in setting the course for our future efforts.

Plans are now being put in place to restructure, repurpose, and reinvigorate our CE program to serve called workers both on and off campus. We have received several grants that will allow us to move forward with additional manpower and technology resources without a negative impact on our budget. For this we are thankful.

Technology support will be available to professors and other off-campus instructors as they develop curriculum for the on-line environment. A substantial investment of time and effort will be necessary for the design and delivery of the course content in this new way.

On-line access to theological journals and periodicals will be available by fall 2010. Grants have allowed us a three-year subscription to the ATLA and JSTOR databases. These subscriptions will allow our students (traditional and continuing) and faculty to access the full text of hundreds of academic journals and other publications in the areas of biblical studies, archaeology, history, and theology.

These are the initial steps toward a first-rate program of CE that, we pray, will help foster a synod-wide culture of lifelong learning and an ongoing pursuit of excellence in the ministry by our called workers.