Nine Graduate from the Hispanic Pastoral Ministry Programs
Nazarene Bible College celebrated its Commencement for the years 2020 and 2021 and 156 students graduated, most of whom received Bachelor of Arts in Ministry degrees.
A special highlight was the fact that nine students of the two graduating classes were from the Hispanic Pastoral Ministry programs. These Hispanic students completed all of their courses in Spanish. With more than twenty adjunct professors teaching in Spanish, the forty-five courses for the Bachelor’s degree or twenty-eight courses for the Associate’s degree, Nazarene Bible College has been providing a great, university-level, Pastoral Ministries degree option, for those who want to study and minister in Spanish here in the United States.
This program was inaugurated in August 2012 and the first Hispanic Pastoral Ministries students began graduating in 2015. To date, twenty Hispanic graduates earned their Bachelor’s degree and two earned their Associate’s degree in the seven graduating classes.
One of the advantages of Nazarene Bible College’s online degree programs is that all students are able to study their university courses from their own homes, according to their own daily schedule, and they are not forced to leave their families or their congregations. Actually, almost every Hispanic student is already pastoring a Hispanic congregation or is already involved in a leadership role in their congregation, if they are not pastoring.
Of the Hispanic graduates of the Class of 2020, all but one of the seven graduates are the lead pastor or the responsible person for Hispanic ministry in their congregation, and in each case, they have been leading for several years. These congregations are spread from Oregon to Tennessee and from the North to the South.
On the other hand, it requires a great deal of sacrifice and hard work to study at the university level, while already pastoring or leading a Hispanic congregation. Few Hispanic pastors receive any financial support for their ministry, and almost all have to work a secular job. The demands of studying are balanced with the needs of their families and with their congregations.
This usually means that adult students take longer than the four years that traditional college students take to complete their college degree. The nine Hispanic graduates with Bachelor’s degrees took an average of six years to complete the Bachelor’s degree, yet four of these graduated with honors, and one graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Countless hours of reading, writing, and ministry are reflected in this accomplishment, which also suggests personal sacrifice and great family support.
Congratulations again to all 2021 and 2021 NBC graduates!
Dr. Timothy McKeithen, NBC Director of the Hispanic Ministries Programs
Published: 06/07/2021
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