My answer to the question, “Should I go to seminary before I become a missionary?,” may surprise you. I am the chair of the Mission and Evangelism Department at TEDS (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) and one might typically assume that my answer is, “Yes!” However, my answer is “Perhaps.” I prefer to modify the question to ask, “Should I go to seminary while serving as a missionary?” In this case, my answer is unequivocally “Yes!”
To delay entering the mission field by two or three years may not be the best approach. Although it is fine to begin the Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies (MA/ICS) before entering a cross-cultural mission field, a student may prefer to complete the program while in the mission field. The MA/ICS program can be completed in-person in Deerfield (Chicagoland) or via asynchronous and synchronous courses. Several electives are offered as real-time courses with a remote option via Zoom.
Current students in the MA/ICS program serve in mission organizations, parachurch ministries, and local churches around the globe. This adds an enriching element to the student experience. Those serving in mission fields as missionaries, evangelists, pastors, or church planters, often apply content from courses immediately in their setting. This reinforces what they are learning in class. Applying what is taught to one’s own context is not only beneficial to the student’s learning, but also to others in the student’s ministry.
In some instances, it may be best for students to come to the TEDS campus in Deerfield for in-person courses. Students from other countries reap the benefit of cross-cultural learning in the United States. Plus, Chicagoland provides multiple opportunities for international students to serve in ethno-linguistic churches and ministries.
In whatever situation students find themselves, the flexibility of the MA/ICS program at TEDS allows students to concentrate on study for a couple of years, or to complete the program remotely while serving in a mission field. What is absolutely important is that missionaries become trained to think missiologically, informed by theology, mission history, and cultural anthropology. The MA/ICS program at TEDS is designed to do this. An unprepared missionary can do more harm than good, but the investment of time and tuition in the MA ICS program can bring benefits to the missionary and make him or her more fruitful in the long run.
The faculty of TEDS’s Mission and Evangelism department have expertise in theology, cultural anthropology, mission history, contextualization, non-Christian religions, and evangelism in Western contexts. We help form students not merely for the task of cross-cultural mission but to help them think missiologically. The 36 semester-hour MA/ICS program at TEDS is among the best in the country, as is our PhD/ICS program. We take seriously the task of making disciples of all nations and invite you to prepare for cross-cultural mission with us!
