2-year degree aimed at bi-vo pastors
By Brian Koonce
Staff Writer
HANNIBAL – Pastors and laity in southeast Missouri might soon have a new opportunity for religious study if plans for a new Hannibal-LaGrange College (HLG) degree program pan out. Officials are considering a new, two-year associate of divinity degree, with classes taking place at Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau.
The degree would be light on general education courses and would be very similar to the non-language four-year Bible bachelor’s program. It would be a cooperative effort between HLG and Lynwood, which would host the classes and share the operational costs, said David Pelletier, HLG vice president for academic affairs at the Sept. 10 HLG board meeting.
“The church is investing a lot into this program, and that’s how we’d be able to make it work,” he said. “This is one of the things churches in the Missouri Baptist Convention have been asking us to do for some time, and we think we may have found a way to do it.”
Pelletier said the program would use accredited and qualified – but volunteer – faculty which would greatly reduce the program’s tuition. He also said it would be able to be applied to a four-year degree program as well.
HLG and Lynwood are currently gauging the demand for such a degree program.