Like many seminary students walking across the stage to accept their diplomas at commencement ceremonies this month, Sean Robinson already has a job lined up.
Beginning in June, he will be the new minister to students and their families at Open Door Church in Raleigh, N.C.
But Robinson’s diploma isn’t the traditional Master of Divinity, awarded to seminary students who have completed a three-year course of study.
He’s graduating with a master’s degree in ministry and leadership. And increasingly many other seminary students are, too.
The gold standard for church leaders — the Master of Divinity — is losing some of its luster to its humbler cousin, the two-year Master of Arts.
“People are trying to get the training they need and get out,” said Robinson, 28, who graduated Friday (May 11) from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. “It all boils down to time and convenience and the culture and lifestyle we see today.”
A new projection from the Association of Theological Schools, the main accrediting body for seminaries in the U.S. and Canada, finds that the number of seminary students enrolled in various Master of Arts degrees will likely exceed the number of Master of Divinity students by 2021.
There were 28,400 students enrolled in the Master of Divinity degree last year, a gradual decline from a high of 35,000 in 2006. By…
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