How is ministry/bible training at Lee University going?The reason that I am concerned is:Perry Stone and Kevin Wallace both have seen a void in East Tennessee and have developed their own ministry training schools.1) Is Lee missing out on training that they should be doing?Should its delivery mechanism change to offer something like Kevin and Perry are doing – in addition to a bachelor’s degree?2) Since my time at Lee – chapel service attendance requirements have been lessened. In addition, with the reduction from 130semester hours to 120 semester hours for a degree (to help meet the 5 year graduation deadline that schools are graded on) – the 18 hours of Bible training required to get a degree at Lee (a minor in Biblical studies) has been further reduced (I am not sure of the current requirement). It is well known that previous graduates of Lee could easily be slipped in as Sunday School teachers or other church leadership because they have had extensive training at Lee – no matter the degree they received. How is less preparation in Biblical studies/religion going to affect a hallmark of a Lee diploma for any church that would be so lucky to have graduates of Lee attend?I am not looking for anyone to slam Lee on this thread. It should be well known on here that I LOVE LEE University. I only want the best – and defend Lee vigorously against unwarranted attacks. I just want those that are affiliated with Lee that post on here to explain the current outlook / results / and projections for Lee ministry students and the training ALL students receive at Lee. I don’t want to lose any of the things that make Lee special.If I get no response, I will forward these questions to the President – but I thought everyone might appreciate the response from Lee if we all could see it.Again – no slams guys – this thread is only for those that love Lee University. Start another thread to post anything negative________________
They are men of God.I believe they feel they are meeting a need.Why else would they do it________________
I do not speak for Lee in any official PR capacity—please understand that clearly.I will limit myself to what I (and many other faculty and administrators) know about 2) above.The only change in the religion core in the transition from 130-to 120-hour degree programs was in the way credit hours are calculated—no courses were removed; no “seat time” was lost.Technically, it is fewer than 18 hours because of the way some of those credit hours are now calculated.Just as before, students take one course in OT, one in NT, one in theology, one in ethics, one in their own major that addresses faith and their particular vocation/field of study, and (clock) hours of service performed by students in part in coordination with a course that explains the biblical and theological logic behind those service hours.
This is just my opinion, but I think it would be the difference in academic training such as Lee and what Perry Stone is hoping to offer are two distinctly different things. Perry Stone’s mentoring institute is geared, in part, towards those who haven’t been privileged to complete a degree in theology, and it will probably also seek to teach you some practical, hands-on things you wouldn’t learn in a university. As one of our MIP teachers (a Lee grad) told us, when he was pastoring his first church, he had to dig a ditch for some problem the church/parsonage was having. He glanced at his wife and said something to the effect of, Ditchdigging 101 was not covered at Lee.This is not a slam against Lee at all. They provide excellent academic training for ministers, but being able to sit under two ministers who have experience in pastoring and evangelism, both with 30+ years of experience…I would think they would have a lot of wisdom to share. Not necessarily a void, but a different side of the coin________________More of Him…less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name
Christopher – thanks for this information________________
Let’s keep this thread about what Lee is doing/going to do________________
Maybe the perceived void isn’t a regional thing, limited to East TN. Perhaps these guys just felt lead to start these schools, and these guys are already in East TN. Once you get good at something, it’s natural to want to train others to bring them along for the ride.. Not a bad thing at all.. And I’m saying this as someone who’s not a Perry Stone fan..________________———My Facebook http://www.facebook.com/theB3
Does Perry’s Mentoring School or RSOM cover Ditchdigging 101 or Toilet Cleaning 101 or all the other unstated things on the minister’s job description? I wouldn’t know. I was simply offering my opinion (as stated)…which would be that these two ministers have a lot of experience in things you wouldn’t necessarily learn in a college classroom. I think a listing of discussion topics is available in the original thread, OTCP________________More of Him…less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name
Everyone doesn’t want to go to four year college/university. Whether they are going into ministry or some other career, some people prefer two year jr/community college for a myriad of reasons.I see the schools of ministry as a venue for those who don’t prefer the four year college/university track. Not saying one is better than the other, just that there are a lot of folks that a four year institution isn’t what they want.Regarding Lee going from 130