Overview

This major prepares you for entering a new world. In this major, students will learn how to communicate in a relevant way across cultures and to penetrate the worldviews of the people in those contexts with the Gospel. Courses such as Applied Cultural Anthropology, Intercultural Communication, and World Religions coupled with a semester-long cross-cultural internship will shape the student to cross cultures effectively and form meaningful relationships for ministry.

Courses in world missions, the history of missions, teamwork and leadership, spiritual formation, and the principles and practice of prayer provide students with training for the personal character and skills necessary for ministry anywhere, but especially outside their own culture. Six courses in biblical studies give a foundation and understanding for biblical ministry. The Senior Seminar is the capstone of the program.

Courses

Examples of courses in this major:

MIS2010 Intro to World Missions

This introductory course will help students discover basic understandings, motives, and methods for successful missionary work. Practical subjects such as good and bad reasons for going into missions, departure from and reentry into one’s own culture, entering a new culture, and choosing a mission field will be discussed. Basic skills for God’s work in another culture will be introduced. Theological and strategic foundations will provide a conceptual understructure for further studies in intercultural missions.

MIS3220 Principles & Practice of Prayer

Students will examine the teaching of the Scriptures on the subject of prayer with a view to discovering the absolute necessity of a vital prayer experience in the life of the man or woman of God and in the life of the Church. Urgency, consistency, and effectiveness of prayer will all be discussed as well as practical guidance for fostering these. Significant time will be spent in the practice of prayer.

ICS3110 Intercultural Communication

Students will examine the principles and processes of communicating effectively with people from a second cultural context, whether in multi-cultural U.S.A. or in other countries. The course will investigate functional perception and how cultural worldview, beliefs, and values affect it through the personal perception of each individual. Students will explore how the shaping of the message, the style of communication, and the use of communication networks help to penetrate different cultures with the gospel. Dangers of ethnocentrism and its affect on the cross-cultural communication process will be discussed. The principles examined are valuable for intercultural relations in any field of work.

BBL3130 Understanding World Religions

Students will examine the belief systems of major religions with a view to understanding why the tenets of each system make sense and drive behavior for the adherents. They will also examine how each religion affects the host culture and how the culture affects the religion. The inadequacies of each belief system will be considered in light of the adequacy of Christianity.

ICS3210 Applied Cultural Anthropology

The nature of man and how his culture affects him are explored with a view to how this, in turn, affects ministry in intercultural contexts. Worldview assumptions and resulting values, beliefs, behavior, and attitudes are studied as to how they affect the person in his perception and understanding of the physical and spiritual world around him and, ultimately, his understanding of the Gospel. Social organization is examined as to how it affects ministry strategy, and the nature of culture change is investigated with a view to evangelism.

Faculty

The individuals who will challenge you to learn:

Jeffrey Gill, B.S., M.Div., D.Min., Ph.D.

Vice President & Dean, School of Ministry Studies, Professor of Pastoral Ministries

Education History

About

Dr. Jeffrey Gill was the senior pastor of the Delaware, Ohio Grace Brethren Church for 20 years (1982-2002). He started at the church when it was little more than a church plant. It experienced substantial growth over the years and is now well-known in the FGBC as a healthy and influential church body. He assumed the role of Dean of Grace Theological Seminary in July, 2002. In 2008, he was named Dean of the School of Ministry Studies, which includes both the Seminary and the undergraduate Biblical Studies Department at Grace. He was the National Moderator of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches in 2002. He and his wife, Kathy, have two grown daughters.

Education History

About

Dr. Matt Harmon brings a passion to equip people to encounter Christ through the Scriptures and lead others to do so as well. His research interests include the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, Biblical Theology, Pauline studies, and the life/ministry/theology of Jonathan Edwards. He served as full-time staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for eight years, doing evangelism and discipleship with college students. He taught courses at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Wheaton College, as well in the local church. On a regular basis, Dr. Harmon also teaches for Campus Crusade for Christ, helping to train staff in interpreting and teaching Scripture. In his spare time, Dr. Harmon also teaches training workshops for Bibleworks. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society for Biblical Literature. Dr. Harmon is married to Kate and has two sons.

Christy Hill, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Professor of Spiritual Formation and Women's Ministries

Education History

B.A. in Christian Education, Wheaton College; M.A. in Christian Education, Talbot School of Theology; Ph.D. in Educational Studies (Character Development and Spiritual Formation), Talbot School of Theology

About

Dr. Hill brings her passion and training in spiritual formation to facilitate the holistic development of students while at Grace. Her research interests include personal and interpersonal development with empirical work conducted in the area of adult attachment styles and relationship with God variables. She taught at Biola University and Talbot School of Theology before coming to Grace in 2006. While she focuses primarily in women's ministries, she has served in a variety of leadership roles cross-culturally, in the local church and in the parachurch context. Dr. Hill has developed a number of Bible study materials, published in the Christian Education Journal and presented research findings at the North American Professors of Christian Education Conference, a society of which she is a member.

Rock M. LaGioia, B.A., M.Div., Th.M., D.Min.

Associate Professor of Pastoral Studies, Director, Doctor of Ministry Program

About

Dr. Rock LaGioia has been heavily involved in pastoral work since 1987. A member of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and the Evangelical Theological Society, he has authored numerous magazine articles and written book reviews. Dr. LaGioia has taught a wide variety of college courses such as spiritual formation, preaching, and theology at Moody Bible Institute and Taylor University. He has also taught graduate level homiletics and theology courses at Trinity International University and Huntington University Graduate School. Dr. LaGioia and his wife, Kathy, have been blessed with two sons.

Ronald Manahan, B.A., M.Div., Th.M., Th.D.

President of College and Seminary Diploma, Grand Rapids School of Bible and Music

Education History

B.A. in Religion, Shelton College; M.Div., Th.M. in Old Testament and Hebrew, Th. D. in Old Testament and Hebrew, Grace Theological Seminary

About

Dr. Ronald Manahan has taught at Grace since 1977. In addition to his teaching, he has served as a division chair, academic dean, and provost at Grace College before being appointed fifth president of Grace Schools in 1994. He has had extensive experience as a pastor and a Bible conference speaker. He also teaches Biblical Perspectives on the Environment at Au Sable Institute. President Manahan has been a contributing author to two books, as well numerous journal articles.

Education History

About

Dr. Roger Peugh came to Grace in the fall of 1989 with three years of pastoral experience followed by 20 years of missionary experience as a church planter in Germany. While at Grace, he was involved as an elder in a church plant for 13 years. He is an active Bible conference speaker as well as guest-lecturer in several German Bible schools. In addition to his role as Professor in the School of Ministry Studies, Dr. Peugh serves Grace College as Campus Prayer Coordinator and is serving as the Interim Dean of Chapel. Dr. Peugh, who has authored on the topic of prayer, is married to Nancy and they have four children and eight grandchildren.

About

Dr. Rata came to Grace Theological Seminary from Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, where he served as Assistant Professor of Divinity. Before that he taught at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, and Emmanuel Baptist University in Oradea, Romania. He has also pastored churches in California and Alabama, and served as an interim pastor in Michigan and Indiana. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Institute for Biblical Research and has presented papers at the national conventions of the Evangelical Theological Society. Dr. Rata is chair of the undergraduate Department of Biblical Studies. He and his wife, Carmen, have two sons.

About

Dr. Mark Soto teaches in the School of Ministry Studies and is the program director for the M.A. in Ministry Studies Program. His background in curriculum design enables him to provide faculty development and training in this area. He works extensively with the institution's hybrid-online programs having completed a M.S. in Instructional Design for Online Learning at Capella University. Prior to coming to Grace College, he has served the church in leadership roles for 25 years. He also served as a part of the Grace College Student Life staff as the Associate Dean of Men before assuming a full-time faculty position. Dr. Soto and his wife, Carol, have two grown daughters and two wonderful grandchildren.

Tom Stallter, B.A., Th.M., D.Miss.

Professor of Intercultural Studies

Education History

About

Dr. Tom Stallter has 18 years of missionary experience in the Central African Republic and Chad in the areas of church planting and development, leadership training, mission administration, and famine and economic relief. In addition to his teaching in the School of Ministry Studies, Dr. Stallter is the Executive Director of the institution's GTS Center for Korean Studies. Areas of research for Dr. Stallter include, cultural intelligence, business as mission, multicultural worship, ethics in missions, cultural values, cultural identity assessment, culture discovery, and matching missionary candidates to contexts. He is a member of the Evangelical Missiological Society and the National Ministerium of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. Dr. Stallter and his wife, Sharon, have three grown children and one granddaughter.

Careers

Some of the positions you can obtain:

Missionary

Immersion within and forming relationships with the people of another culture with the purpose of sharing Christ in word and in deed. Often times missionaries will form relationships through the application of their gifts and talents, meeting the needs of the people within the culture. Those talents may be in the areas of construction, agriculture, literacy, teaching, or business to name a few.

Urban Ministries Director

Manage an inner city program, staff and budget in an organization that typically promotes faith, service, learning, and leadership development. Maintain and develop relationships with local churches and agencies promoting cross-cultural sensitivity and a respect for people of many backgrounds.

Project Coordinator

Typically within a ministry or non-profit organization, project coordinators reach out to under-served populations with vital services and may conduct training, create awareness, raise funds, evaluate services, and work to improve the lifestyle of others.