News and Notes

Spring 2008

J-Mester

Thirteen students gathered at the Harding University campus in Searcy from January 8-11 for the inaugural J-Mester experience.  Students shared meals, devotionals, tours of campus, library orientation, and the MMIN 621 course with Dr. Monte Cox.  Participants included Alan Brown, Keith Harris, Philip Holsinger, Robby John, Marvin Johnson, Jeff Kreh, Don Payne, Kyle Rye, Gary Smith, Nancy Tackett, Glenn VanZandt, Terry Varnon, and Brent Wilhite.  Plans are being made for J-Mester 2009 which will be held January 5-9 and will feature MMIN 611 “Theological Foundations for Ministry” with Dr. Ross Cochran.

Students who have yet to take MMIN 611 should note that the course will be offered only in J-Mester. 

Campus Ministry Interns and a New Course Offering

One new course has been added to the MMIN slate in anticipation of a partnership between this program and campus ministers who will be training interns on campuses in St. Louis, Missouri., Tampa, Florida, and Orlando, Florida with possibilities for other sites, as well.  The new course added to our catalog is MMIN 655 “Small Group Ministries.”  The course description reads:  “An examination of the biblical and theological foundations of small group ministry, along with an exploration of available literature and other group dynamics resources, in an attempt to discover the place of small groups in the local church in terms of evangelism, edification, and leadership development.”  This will be a summer offering and will be open to all of our students.

Women’s Ministries course

MMIN 663 “Women’s Ministries” has been in our catalog since the inception of our program but will first be offered in spring 2009.  Anessa Westbrook will be the instructor for this course.  Anessa has prepared herself well to facilitate this course.  She has completed a M.A. in Church Growth and is pursuing the M.Div.  at the Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis and is currently completing a Certificate in Women’s Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  The course will be conducted online combined with activities on campus that will coincide with the WINGS (Women in God’s Service) conference.  Students enrolled in the course will be asked to come to campus to hear guest lecturers during the conference (February 27-28, 2009).  The course description for MMIN 663 reads:  “A theological, practical, and philosophical exploration of the role of women in ministry within the context of the church and community.  Students will incorporate what is learned in the classroom to real-life situations, including organization of women's ministry and specialized training on how to effectively collaborate with male leaders in a local church context.  Students are highly encouraged to take MMIN 653 Servant Leadership prior to MMIN 663.”

Please note that this course is open to all women with a baccalaureate degree and all credit participants in MMIN 663 will receive a 40% tuition discount for this course.  Auditors will pay a flat fee of $375.  Interested individuals should write us at mmin@harding.edu

Honor Students

Beginning this semester, our plan is to honor the top MMIN student in each course.  Students will be selected by the instructor and will receive a certificate in the mail conferring this honor.  We are proud of all of our Master of Ministry students but plan to provide this award in each course every semester as a special incentive.

 

For those who are familiarizing themselves by means of this web page, thank you for “dropping in.”  We are here to serve you.  If we can be of assistance in answering your questions or providing information to get you started in the Master of Ministry program, please do not hesitate to contact us.  or call 501-279-4252.

Bill Richardson
Director