ATLANTA – Mercer University’s new fully online Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree program in McAfee School of Theology was recently approved by the Association of Theological Schools and is now accepting applicants for fall 2021.
“Mercer University is the first and only research university in the Southeast to offer a fully accredited and fully online Master of Divinity,” said Nathan Cost, director of admissions. “Furthermore, McAfee School of Theology is the first and only member of the Atlanta Theological Consortium to offer a fully accredited and fully online M.Div.”
The online M.Div. comprises 78 credit hours of coursework taken over four years. The program is designed to allow students to continue to minister and/or work while enrolled in six to seven credit hours per semester during the summer, fall and spring terms of each year.
“The online Master of Divinity allows students to remain within their current ministry and professional contexts where they have already established significant ministry roots and community relationships. Within these familiar contexts, students participate in courses that allow for the full integration of learning in the context of communities in which they already are viewed as leaders or have the potential to move quickly into leadership roles,” said Dr. Greg DeLoach, interim dean of the School of Theology.
All courses and faculty members in the online program are the same as in the on-campus program, and online students will have the opportunity to participate in the campus community through virtual chapel, prayers, events and lectures, as well as faculty office hours.
M.Div. coursework encourages engagement in local churches and community ministries in order to prepare ministers to imagine, discover and create God’s future.
For more information on Mercer’s online M.Div. degree program, visit theology.mercer.edu/academics/degree-programs, or email theologyadmissions@mercer.edu.
About the School of Theology
The Mercer University School of Theology, named for James and Carolyn McAfee, who provided the founding gift for the School, forms Christian leaders whose practice and scholarship, empowered by their passion for God and neighbor, change lives and transform communities. The School accomplishes this mission by: 1) integrating spirituality with service through: practicing spiritual disciplines that nurture us for Christian service; embracing ethnic, gender and theological diversity to enhance our spiritual growth and moral formation; creating opportunities to learn in community, experience transformation and risk action; 2) integrating theological inquiry with prophetic vision through interpreting the story of the Christian faith through sacred scriptures and traditions; connecting faith to global contexts in ways that engage personal, communal and political realities; critiquing the structures of our society from an informed prophetic voice; 3) integrating worship with witness through celebrating God’s presence in worship as the source of the Church’s call to community and global transformation; reading cultural contexts to create holistic strategies for ministry; proclaiming the love of God in Jesus Christ through dialogue and in partnership with others. For more information, visit theology.mercer.edu.
