Admissions
Application & Matriculation
Since the primary purpose of RBS is to train men for pastoral ministry, the most basic requirement for entrance into the divinity program is that a man be an ordained pastor or a recognized aspirant for the ministry. If you do not aspire to the pastoral ministry, but you desire further theological training in order to enhance your Christian growth and render you more useful in the church, you may enroll in the Marrow of Theology program, which is designed for non-vocational elders, deacons, or laymen. If you are not concerned about earning academic credit, you are also welcome simply to audit the courses for your own personal edification and development. If you aspire to the ministry and desire admission into the seminary, you should schedule an interview with your pastor(s). If your pastor(s) deems your aspirations to be legitimate and appropriate, then you may apply for admission to the seminary. By deeming your aspirations as legitimate and appropriate, your pastor(s) are not necessarily declaring you to be fully-qualified for the pastoral office. They are simply declaring that your aspirations do not appear to be misguided. If your aspirations to the ministry are tentative either in your own mind or the mind of your pastors, you may be allowed to enroll in the program for a probationary period to allow time for your aspirations, graces and gifts to be assessed. No man should be engaged in studies for the pastoral ministry when there are glaring immaturities in Christian grace or insurmountable deficiencies in ministerial gift. For this reason, RBS and your pastor(s) reserve the right to withdraw their support of your ministerial training should either party determine there are significant deficiencies in either grace or gift.
Admission is continuous, and you may apply for enrollment any time throughout the year. Ordinarily, only men who are at least twenty-one years of age, hold a Bachelor's Degree, are members in good standing in an evangelical church, and are recognized ministerial aspirants shall be eligible to take these classes for credit. RBS reserves the right to waive any or all of these requirements if doing so is deemed appropriate. Each applicant will be considered and assessed on an individual basis. Possible reasons for waiving these entrance requirements include the following:
- If the applicant is in the process of obtaining a Bachelor's degree.
- The applicant has completed at least five years of full-time Christian ministry experience or has educational experience equivalent to 128 credit-hours of undergraduate training.
- The applicant's current age, family needs, and/or vocational responsibilities make it difficult or impossible to obtain a Bachelor's degree. In such cases, the student may be allowed to enroll in the seminary and will be awarded the Bachelor of Divinity (B.Div.) degree upon completion of the program. Students graduating with the Bachelor of Divinity degree may later request to exchange that degree for a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree after completing at least five years of full-time Christian ministry.
- The applicant is enrolling into the Marrow of Theology program for the Diploma of Theological Studies.
Those accepted into the seminary without a Bachelor's degree will be under probation for the first year of their studies. Those under probation must take a minimum of two courses the first year and maintain a cumulative grade average of at least 2.50 to demonstrate that they have the necessary discipline and academic ability to handle the work. If the academic standard has been met at the end of the first year, the student will be removed from academic probation.
Applicants whose native language is not English may be required to take the TOEFL and TWE. The required scores are as follows: TOEFL - 570 (computer-based test - 230), TWE - 4.5. You may make arrangements to take the TOEFL and TWE by contacting: Educational Testing Service, www.toefl.org, 1-800-GO-TOEFL, Box 953, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA. Official scores should be sent directly to RBS.
After receiving your application, the seminary dean will contact you and set up a time for a phone interview. After your interview, the seminary dean will contact your pastor to confirm his approval of your enrollment and his willingness to serve as your mentor-proctor. The dean will notify you when your application for enrollment is approved. Once your application is approved, you should immediately send the one-time, non-refundable matriculation fee of $100 to the seminary. Your enrollment in the seminary will not officially go into effect until your matriculation fee is received.