The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary will launch a new pastoral training program beginning fall 2001 aimed at “raising the leadership benchmark” for Adventist pastors.  The new Master of Divinity program, initiated by the Adventist Church in North America, will take five years to complete—twice as long as the original master’s program.  Students will spend four of those years working as a pastor under the “mentorship” of an ordained Adventist pastor.

“The idea is deeper than an internship; it’s about building a relationship with another pastor,” said Walt Williams, who was elected earlier this month by the Adventist Church in North America to help develop and implement the program. 

“A church rarely rises above its leadership, so we’re raising the benchmark,” Williams says. “It’s hoped that a ministerial intern, by engaging in mentoring relationships where there’s always someone to show them the ropes, will reach ordination more holistically prepared” for pastoral work.

The Adventist Theological Seminary, located in Berrien Springs, Michigan, has been training Adventist pastors since 1936.  For more details about the new program, visit the Web site of the Adventist Church in North America at www.nadadventist.org (see news section).