Seminary's Distance Learning Program Creates Special Community

Chad Van Ginkel didn’t have far to travel this summer when he appeared, along with other ministry candidates from Calvin Theological Seminary, in front Synod 2015.

Synod was meeting on the campus of Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa and Van Ginkel, the first of two graduates of the seminary’s Distance Learning Program, is youth pastor at nearby Faith CRC.

As he thinks back on that experience, he says it was nice that he didn’t have to go far to take part in the annual ceremony in which candidates are presented to delegates at synod. Friends and family were there.

But what he found especially appealing is that many of his fellow distance-learning students were on hand as well. They were looking in on Synod 2015 via the Internet.

“When I was in front of synod, many of them made the effort to  watch,” he says.

For instance, he had a friend from Alberta and another from Michigan who watched as the event unfolded and one from Korea who viewed the presentation of candidates on a time-delay.

Van Ginkel says he knows on-campus students build close-knit relationships. At the same time, the experience of learning as he and other distance-learning students did via the Web and then meeting on campus for several days twice a year, forged especially close bonds between them. It created a camaraderie that is becoming a hallmark of the program.

“I’ve made relationships with people through this program that will last a lifetime,” said Van Ginkel.

Nathan Bierma, associate director of distance education at the seminary, says Van Ginkel is not alone. The seminary’s distance program has developed a strong and rich community that spans North America and beyond.

“In some cases, our distance students develop closer relationships with each other than students in residential classes do, in part, because their numbers are smaller, but also because of their time together on campus combined with interacting online throughout their courses,” says Bierma.

Bierma adds that the online community is nonetheless reaching the on-campus group in size. Of 40 incoming M.Div students at Calvin Seminary this fall, about 17 are expected to be Distance Learning students. Currently, about 70 students are in the distance program.

In addition, the program is now expanding from featuring the M.Div., Master of Theological Studies and the Diploma for Ministry to offering Master of Arts degrees.

Of its benefits, this program has helped to keep seminary enrollment relatively steady at a time when “increasingly, seminary students are unable to relocate due to work, family, or other considerations,” says Bierma.

“Most of our Distance Learning students tell us this is the only way they could be a seminary student.”

Nicole Veenkamp, a member and worship planner at Redeemer CRC in Sarnia, Ontario, says the program provides many things for her.

When she started as one of the first 13 online students in Fall 2012, she was worship coordinator at Granite Spring CRC in Granite Springs, Calif.

She had just graduated from Calvin College, she says, and didn’t want to attend another three years in a traditional educational environment.

At the same time, she was attracted to the new program because it would allow her to remain in ministry at Granite Springs while still attending school.

“I especially appreciated being able to apply what I was learning online to my ministry,” she said.

Another benefit of the program is the flexibility that it offers, she said. “There are videos to watch, papers to write, discussions to post, but you can work it around your schedule and circumstances.”

For example, she was able to continue her seminary studies when she decided to leave California and move back to Sarnia to be close to her family.

Like Chad Van Ginkel, a big plus have been the friendships she has made. She appreciates the times spent on-campus and the opportunity to interact online.

When she was studying Greek, for instance, she and another student met once a week to study in Google hangouts — a program allowing them to interact face to face.

Overall, her fellow students and her professors have helped her to grow spiritually, assisting and equipping her to answer God’s call in her life.

She is not sure where God will lead, whether she will stay as a worship leader or become a solo pastor or move into another area of ministry. But she knows that being part of this online community is shaping and supporting her in profound and lasting ways.

“It has been a good experience to get to know and have conversations with all of these people who bring what is going on their different ministry contexts to the table,” she said.

The seminary offers a video titled “Where You Are” that highlights the purpose of distance education.

Click here to see comments Chad Van Ginkel made to Synod 2015.