The Associate of Arts in Theology incorporates the credits earned through the Diploma in Theology
The Associate of Arts in Theology is a degree designed to:
- be appropriate for students in Christian ministry
- reflect VCI’s unique Competency-Based Theological Education (CBTE) approach of Integrated Leadership Development (ILD)
- provide an undergraduate degree for people in Christian ministry.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to practice independently as Christian ministers or ministry leaders, with skills defined in terms of particular cultural milieus and areas of gifting. In particular, they will be able to:
- form an overview of Scripture so that their theology can be based on an understanding of the overall message of all the Bible books
- do exegesis of all the major types of literature applied to all the groups of Bible books, using a form of semantic discourse analysis
- discern the absolutes of a passage on which exegesis has been done and apply them to their local ministry context
- apply the biblical absolutes in such a way that a biblical worldview is cultivated
- develop ministry skills that are effective in their own ministry setting.
These five main learning goals are taught in an interdisciplinary fashion, weaving them together as strands through an integrated educational approach. Students are required to integrate spiritual development during the completion of each competency unit.
Duration
The student learning outcomes of the Foundation Training are incorporated in the Associate degree. Therefore, if students have achieved these learning outcomes before enrollment, the Associate degree will typically be done over four trimesters.
Should VCI decide to run Associate degree cohorts for which prior completion of the Foundation modules is not required, this material must then be covered in the program itself, which will likely result in extending the typical program duration by additional trimesters.
As the degree program is offered within a cohort, students who do not complete within the four trimesters will need to obtain special permission to continue to work on the qualification and be required to pay a continuous enrollment fee.
Prerequisites
To be considered for admission, a student should have all of the following:
- successful and timely completion of the Diploma in Theology or the Australian accredited VCI Certificate IV in Biblical Ministry.
- a suitable position in Christian ministry
- satisfactorily completed the four non-formal VCI Foundation Training modules as the basic educational skills acquired through the Foundation Training are presupposed and further developed in the Associate of Arts in Theology.
Successful facilitation of the Foundation Training modules will be considered a commendation for admission.
For general requirements: See General Admission Policies and Procedures in the Catalog.