• TCH501- Introduction to Eschatology is open to the public and can be taken without Sword & Spirit acceptance or enrollment. It is a free course.

Simply register for the site (free), go to FREE PUBLIC ENDTIME COURSE, and click the link to start the course.

• Additionally, CTSP504 The Visual Voice of God 6-part course series is open to the public and offered at 50% off the standard tuition rate to non-students. 15 Keys to Interpretation for Prophetic Dreamers was originally offered at PropheticDreamers.com, and carries with it a significant number of students and reviews.  A new 2-part series‒ also offered as part of The Visusal Voice of God course series (and by the same author)‒ is 88 Decoding Exercises for Prophetic Dreamers,

• TCH501- Introduction to Eschatology is open to the public and can be taken without Sword & Spirit acceptance or enrollment. It is a free course.

Simply register for the site (free), go to FREE & PUBLIC COURSES, and click the link to start the course.

• Additionally, CTSP504 The Visual Voice of God 6-part course series is open to the public and offered at 50% off the standard tuition rate to non-students. 15 Keys to Interpretation for Prophetic Dreamers was originally offered at PropheticDreamers.com, and carries with it a significant number of students and reviews.  A new 2-part series‒ also offered as part of The Visusal Voice of God course series (and by the same author)‒ is 88 Decoding Exercises for Prophetic Dreamers,

Sword & Spirit Seminary‒ a federal 501(c)(3)‒ has been accredited by the American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions since 2020. For further detail, visit SSS Accreditation or AAATI.

Sword & Spirit Seminary features a MDiv Bridge Program for students who have not yet earned a Bachelor Degree and would like to earn a Master of Divinity.

Similar programs are in place at institutions like Loyola University, Boston University, Kent State, Arizona State, Florida Tech, American University, Creighton University and Regis University titled with terms such as Integrated, Accelerated, Dual or Combined with additional course requirements and some courses earning dual credit.

The Sword & Spirit Seminary BRIDGE PROGRAM for students without Bachelor degrees consists of just four 2-credit courses enabling new students to complete the Master of Divinity and Doctorate of Ministry Degrees. These 4 courses must be completed before entrance into the MDiv Program.

(Two of the textbooks in this program are also required REFERENCE BOOKS for the Degree Completion Department).

• EXCELLENCE & AFFORDABILITY‒ We believe that a diploma to hang on your wall is only the beginning of what you’re after… that you desire a solid foundation and first-rate ministry training to equip you for success in whatever ministry you pursue or continue, in order to effectively widen and deepen God’s Kingdom. In light of that, we consider our programs equivalent to those costing much more. If you are looking for quick-and-dirty seminary degrees which omit or only survey vital material, you won’t find that here.

• THE WORD & SPIRIT OF GOD ARE HONORED‒ We honor both the Word of God and the Spirit of God. When the “Sword” and the “Spirit” converge‒ when the truth of the Holy Bible combines with the presence of the Holy Spirit, great spiritual truth and empowerment result.

• OUTSTANDING & DIVERSE CURRICULUM‒ Because the curriculum is the heart of the programs, our leadership team engaged in careful research with open minds to find the crème de la crème curriculum texts and authors in their fields. Overall, we would describe the courses as intellectually sound and spiritually challenging.

• RELEVANT‒ We purposely emphasize subject areas which enrollees tell us need shoring up or strengthening… such as World Religious Systems, Apologetics, Evangelism, Theology, Church History, Spiritual Freedom, and Counseling.

• EXPLORATORY‒ We believe students should become equipped to research, think for themselves and form personal views on secondary doctrines. In non-core Christian issues, we like to present various viewpoints enabling students to grow in evaluating for themselves rather than blindly accepting the most popular or trendy views. See the next question for detail.

• The curriculum authors we have selected represent a wide range of academic institutions and hold a diversity of perspectives from within Christendom.

The classically and historically accepted core doctrines of the Christian faith are non-negotiable. Beyond that, we’re committed to encouraging scholarly quests for truth in secondary and controversial areas of the faith in order to encourage critical thinking‒ at times, presenting opposing, alternative, or counter viewpoints for students to examine. This can be the case, in topics such as eschatology, the Calvinism/Arminianism question, Cessationism vs Continuationism, and women in ministry topics.

Our primary authors represent over 50 diverse educational institutions… institutions regarded as evangelical, traditional, charismatic, and orthodox.

While a good deal of curriculum authors come from Evangelical-leaning scholars, the contributions of the Full-Gospel scholars also abound and are just as vital. The Biblical Interpretation and Preaching Department, for instance, includes a Presbyterian, two Full-Gospel scholars, a Woman, an African-American church pastor, and a number of Evangelicals.

• Again, we consider ourselves exceptional in that we believe in our students… and in their ability to think critically. Exposure to differing secondary theological interpretations allows students the freedom to form their own views on topics such as Dispensationalism, the Voice of God Today, End-time Prophecy, Rapture Timing, Calvinism vs Arminianism, Egalitarian vs Complementarianism… and then thoughtfully come to their own theological conclusions.

• Again, the curriculum authors we have selected represent a wide range of academic institutions and hold a diversity of perspectives from within Christendom.

To help students succeed, course units often provide study guides conveying what to expect in quizzes. Quiz results are provided upon quiz completions, and unit quiz questions are often repeated in midterms and finals.

Each course is provided a code to help identify its level of difficulty― E= Easy, C= Comfortable, R= Rigorous, F= Formidable. And we are always happy to advise students individually on the difficulty level of any particular course.

Skills needed are standard reading comprehension, ability to study for passing quizzes, and ability to compose and post comments on forums. Composition ability is needed for writing short sermons, the Master’s Thesis, and the Doctorate Dissertation.

Two of the required courses for BRIDGE students (students without Bachelor degrees) address English composition and may be taken by any student wanting more training in order to succesfully write their Master’s Thesis or Doctorate Dissertation.

For those reasons, we allow a limited number of credits for documented courses taken within churches and other ministries, exceptional life experience, and pastoral and ministry experience.

• Our Master of Divinity Program allows up to 20 credits for any combination of documented unaccredited coursework, pastoral ministry, missionary work, and exceptional life experience (per compatibility & approval). Administrative fees apply.

• Our Doctor of Ministries Program does NOT allow credits for unaccredited coursework, pastoral ministry, missionary work, or exceptional life experience.

Contact should be made during or after the enrollment process to discuss whether any of these options may be applicable and what verifications will be expected.

• Sword & Spirit Seminary accepts transfer credits from other accredited seminaries for either graduate program‒ generally up to 30 credits in the MDiv program, and up to 20 credits in the DMin program (per compatibility & approval). Administrative transfer fees apply.

• We are also willing to consider providing credit for applicable course from other accredited Master’s Degree Programs (such as counseling or leadership), and possibly even accredited undergraduate courses.

Contact should be made during or after the enrollment process to discuss whether any of these options may be applicable. Transcripts can be sent to contact@sssem.org. Administrative transfer fees also apply.

Additionally, we do NOT limit students to terms or semesters for 3 reasons:

1. We feel it’s important to allow students flexibility in determining their schedule and setting their own pace. Some students want to complete programs expediently. For others, working in courses a few at a time fits better within their other responsibilities.

2. We want to save you tuition… especially if you are moving at a slower pace!

• Standard seminary practice is to charge a set tuition amount per semester, in which students can take a range of credit hours. Should students want to take less courses per semester, they will STILL pay the same tuition amount.
• Liberty University, for instance, charges $2750 per semester, allowing students to take 9-12 credit hours. Students who take 9 credit hours per semester will pay tuition for 5 semesters. Should a student want to go at a slower pace, the cost could increase exponentially. This cannot happen at SSS.

3. Should the need arise for a student to pause their education for any emergency, course-work can be put on hold temporarily without negative consequences.

Most courses require textbooks which students are asked to purchase on-line through the Amazon links on our site. Some books may be available for check out from a nearby public or seminary library (non-student library cards are sometimes available at local seminaries).

We continue to work on supplying study-aids and guidelines to help students understand what to look for when reading. Beyond that, some courses utilize video-lessons, PowerPoints, standard text materials, completion of a workbook at home, or writing chapter summaries.

QUIZZES and FINALS are auto-corrected. In order to keep costs down, assignments requiring instructor response are limited to curriculum for which mentoring is particularly helpful, such as within the Biblical Interpretation and Preaching and Counseling and Transformation department. Forums are more often utilized, for example, than assignments.

Each course has it’s own evaluation component grid. Grading scale is generous. Less than 60% gernerally requires a course retake to obtain credit (not documented on transcript). Administrative fees apply.

The COURSE DIFFICULTY RATING SYSTEM was put in place not only to help students decide which courses to take, be also, when to take them. Sometimes it’s wise to successfully complete easier courses before more difficult ones. The ratings are based on several factors such as: subject difficulty, textbook author writing style, expected incoming familiarity of material, amount of material, detail expected to be retained, whether prerequisites are required, length of book chapters, whether study guides are provided, whether midterms and finals are included; and whether video, DVD or Power-Point lessons are included.

E (Easy)‒ Indicates the course is at the easiest end of the spectrum as compared to other courses. Indicates that many of the factors taken into account are favorable for determining the course is classified as EASY.

C (Comfortable)‒ Indicates the course is on the easier half of the spectrum, but not as easy as the lowest level. Indicates that the course should be comfortable for most students.

R (Rigorous)‒ Indicates that the subject difficulty, the incoming familiarity of the material, the amount of material, the detail expected to be retained and/or other factors may require more concentration and effort than the easy or comfortable courses. Though these courses may be more rigorous, they are in-no-way overwhelming and will yield deeper and/or greater educational benefit.

F (Formidable)‒ Indicates the course will require exceptional effort, concentration, and study in order to do well on the quizzes. Can be overwhelming for some students. Formidable courses are for those who are ready for significant challenge.

For your convenience, further details are provided on our COURSE DIFFICULTY DESIGNATIONS page.

You choose your pace. Completion of MDiv may take 18-24 months or more depending several factors including whether you are working as a full or part time student, and whether you are bringing previous coursework into the program.

Acceptance into the seminary is solely based on submission of contact information/geographic location and verifications of educational status and personal character. Additional information about students is asked only AFTER acceptance, during the enrollment process so we can get to know each student as an individual.

• Required documents consist of college transcripts for students who earned Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degrees or have taken college courses… as well as at least one reference letter. These can be scanned and uploaded (preferred) or mailed directly from educational institutions or letter authors (slower).

Applicants unable to submit transcripts expediently at the time of application are asked to submit a copy of their college diploma (if applicable and possible) for initial educational status verification. Transcripts are only required as solid educational status verification, with grades ignored.

Applicants for our Bridge Program WITHOUT college credits are asked to upload proof of GED or High School graduation. Exceptions are possible.

Aware that countless men and women of God around the world have been held back from fullness in ministry due to lack of training (often times, because of the expense), we have sought to bring educational opportunity at the most bare-bones budget possible… a fraction of the cost of similar degrees elsewhere.

As a non-profit organization, by utilizing today’s technology, and by looking to curriculum authors and publishers for primary resourses and guidance; we are delighted to be able to offer relevant, intellectually-sound and spiritually-challenging curriculum.

There is a $20 fee to apply. After an applicant receives email notification of acceptance into one of the programs, applicants enroll according to enrollment instructions.

• Enrollment consists of paying the $45 ENROLLMENT FEE. There are additional administrative fees for transfer students.

• Based on $70 per credit hour (TCH501 course is free and CTSP504 is $100 off), students select a tution plan in accordance with their projected graduation date. Should a student’s pace prove notably different than projected, monthly tuition will be adjusted accordingly.

• *TCH504‒ Overview of Church History (DMin required)‒ C-3
• *LEC601‒ Contemporary Social Issues & Ethics (DMin required)‒ R-3
• *CTSP601‒ Deliverance Counseling Foundations (DMin required)‒ C-4
• *CTSP602‒ CTSP602‒ Navigating The Pastoral Counseling Process (DMin required)‒ C-3

The three DMin ELECTIVE COURSES are also available to be taken as MDiv Electives.

• *BIP601‒ New Testament Greek: An Overview (DMin elective)‒ R-3
• *TCH601‒ The Women in Ministry Controversy (DMin elective)‒ R-4
• *TCH610.1‒ Introduction to Systematic Theology: Scripture (DMin elective)‒ E-2

Community and social interaction are promoted initially through the Forum Topic Discussions included in some of the courses. Additional interaction possibilities are under consideration. Specifically, we are considering a feature that will allow students to acquire “friends” to individually chat with within the seminary site.

The credit-hours that exceed the 72 required in the Master of Divinity Degree roll over into the Doctorate of Ministries program. And, the four DMin required courses are available to MDiv students (to be replaced by electives if they go on to earn a Doctorate).

We are delighted to see ministers with a thirst for the things of God. Therefore, those who have earned both Master of Divinity and Doctorate of Ministries enjoy substantial alumni discounts on the purchase of further courses, which may add supplemental certifications. Inquire for further details.