About

Spirit & Life Seminary

an online educational enterprise

The certificate program offered by Spirit and Life Seminary is unaccredited online educational enterprise consisting of sixty-six credit hours that is authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and certified as a bachelor equivalency level by Association for Hispanic Theological Education (AETH).

SLS espouses these objectives:

  1. To provide educational opportunities that will equip the Church of God of Prophecy leadership, ministry, and laity with the knowledge base, evangelism skills, and spiritual dispositions to fulfill Christ’s mission by impacting their world.

  2. To equip our students to become effective Christian leaders and citizens who minister in expanding the kingdom of God and building the Church.

Institutional Vision

The primary role of Spirit & Life Seminary is to prepare men and women of the Church of God of Prophecy who will be equipped to fulfill the Great Commission, anointed for service, and broken in heart for lost humanity.

Thus, through its academic certificate program of higher education, Spirit & Life Seminary seeks to expand the kingdom of God, build the Church, and equip its students to become effective Christian leaders and citizens.

Our History

Since 2016, Accredited Ministry Development, a ministry of Church of God of Prophecy, has partnered with other institutions of higher learning to provide accredited theological education for its members. At that time, AMD Director Bishop Shaun McKinley was tasked by then executive director of Leadership Development and Discipleship, Dr. Brian Sutton, with developing an accredited certificate program in partnership with a seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee. With this arrangement, AMD was responsible for marketing, admissions, and registration with the goal of utilizing an all-COGOP faculty. In August of 2017, AMD began regular certificate program courses using Church of God of Prophecy instructors. In October of 2017, Dr. Michael Plumley was hired to examine the requirements of THEC authorization due to his rich background in accreditation after more than forty years as an educator.

In September of 2018, the newly appointed director of AMD, Dr. Michael A. Hernandez, was tasked with beginning the process of applying to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for authorization by the executive director of Leadership Development and Discipleship, Reverend Kathryn Creasy. Dr. Hernandez worked with Dr. Plumley to meet all the requirements of THEC authorization, which was granted in November of 2019. Immediately upon receiving THEC authorization, Dr. Hernandez and Dr. Plumley began working towards receiving certification from the Association for Hispanic Theological Education (Also known as AETH). Currently, SLS is in process of completing all requirements for certification which allows the Ministry and Theological Studies program to function as a bachelor’s equivalency program which permits students to apply towards master’s programs accredited with the Association for Theological Schools.

 

OUR MISSION

The mission of Spirit & Life Seminary is to provide educational programs and opportunities that are theologically sound and practical in scope so that leadership and ministry within our movement are equipped to reconcile the world to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Authorization

The Spirit & Life Seminary Corporate Board, deriving its authority from the General Presbytery in compliance with the doctrine and polity of the International Assembly of the Church of God of Prophecy, has empowered and directed the mission, vision, programs, and processes of Spirit & Life Seminary.

Spirit & Life Seminary is authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. This authorization must be renewed each year and is based on an evaluation of minimum standards concerning quality of education, ethical business practices, and fiscal responsibility.

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