How a Liberal Arts Education Enhances Your Ministry
God has placed a call on your life. Your heart breaks for those who do not know God. You are compelled to help the hurt and broken. So how do you make that dream — that passion — a reality?
Most high school graduates interested in ministry have two options: 1) attend a liberal arts college and pursue a degree in ministry, or 2) attend a Bible college.
For very few, this choice is clear-cut. For most, this decision hinges on what they want to achieve while furthering their education. If you find yourself in that latter group, here are a few of the ways that a liberal arts degree will benefit your ministry:
A liberal arts education is about learning how to think. Liberal arts students study history, literature, philosophy, and more, not just to learn facts but to understand different perspectives and examine how those perspectives shape history and culture. That understanding will benefit you as you take the Gospel across the street or around the world to people who have different values or ways of thinking.
A liberal arts education is about developing your worldview. As you begin to understand different perspectives and the people who hold them, those perspectives and people will begin to shape your worldview. At a liberal arts university like Huntington University, you will also receive plenty of opportunities to study the Bible and theology, which will contribute to your worldview.
A liberal arts education offers opportunity. At Huntington University, that could mean pursing a degree in ministry (which focuses on practical courses that teach you functions and skills for ministry combined with Bible study and a PRIME experience), a Bible and theology degree (focused on Bible and theology courses) or a double major in both. These courses prepare you to better understand God and his desires for how we relate to one another while developing your worldview.
Earning your ministry degree from a liberal arts college also allows you to try new things within your field of interest. One semester you might work with a local youth group and help an established youth pastor. The next summer you might participate in an internship that allows you to lead worship or be responsible for children’s ministry. And the next year you might be able to teach a Sunday school class. These types of experiences give you great ministry perspective and allow you to learn from established leaders. Again, all helping you to shape your worldview!
To learn more about earning a degree in ministry from Huntington University, check out huntington.edu/CTP.
