About BTS

Mission

The mission of BTS is to provide faithful and accessible advanced theological education for learners everywhere, building leaders to serve the local church.

Vision

BTS strives to be the number one seminary for quality, sound, affordable theological education that extends to learners in diverse environments for kingdom impact on their communities through service to the local church.

BTS Purpose

BTS is committed to making faithful theological education accessible to learners everywhere, equipping leaders for Christ’s church. We offer multiple graduate and postgraduate programs, both locally and on-line, to bring value to the church and the surrounding community.

We serve individuals and churches by training future and current pastors, counselors, and lay leaders—both domestically and internationally. We are an historic, reformed seminary committed to Biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and authority and hold ecclesiastical recognition from multiple Protestant denominations.

BTS utilizes Pastor/Professors to bring focused academic and theological training with practical application, designed to develop vocational and volunteer leaders in the church. BTS is a multi-site seminary that provides resources to students on a full-time and part-time basis.

BTS believes education is a service that should be extended as far as reasonably possible to help the church grow spiritually and to bring kingdom impact to local communities with the good news of salvation through Christ alone.

Values

Primary Values:

• Gospel-Centered: built on scripture, Trinitarian, redemptive and restorative
• Academic: maintain strong/clear academic standards
• Pastoral: equipping Christians to serve in the local church
• Biblical Diversity: multi-generational, men and women, multi-ethnic
• Confessional: guided by the major Protestant confessions
• Flexible: meet students where they are to guide them where God leads
• Affordable: making seminary financially viable
• Service: provide excellence in serving students, the local church, communities

Operational Values:

• Lean Operations: grow only when necessary
• Shared Spaces: partnering with the local church, utilize existing space
• Pastor/Professors: bring wisdom and experience to the classroom

Educational Values:

• Academic: maintain strong/clear academic standards
• Pastoral Theology: Pastor’s experience is a significant part of the education
• Practical Application: God’s word applied to everyday life
• Leadership: BTS education should impact, inspire, and train students for leadership

Aspirational Values:

• Biblical Diversity: multi-generational, men and women, multi-ethnic
• Multi-generational: classrooms with young enthusiasm and aged wisdom
• Academic: grow academic credibility
• Pastoral: train more pastors
• Extendable: develop better delivery systems
• Outcomes-oriented: track the impact of the degree programs from students/alumni

Objectives

Operational Objectives:

1. Keep BTS at $100 per credit hour
2. Develop BTS champions that support education as discipleship
3. Grow the student body of BTS with appropriate student candidates (theological, academic, spiritual, volitional)
4. Maintain academic standards and consistency in academic outcomes
5. Expand the reach of BTS from SE AL to National and Global circles
6. Develop optimal operating systems that keep BTS lean, efficient, and helpful

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes:

1. Scripture: Students will be able to articulate the truth of scripture effectively.
2. Reformed Theology: Students will be able to engage and reproduce the primary truth of Reformed Theology.
3. Local Church:  Students will be engaged in applied ministry projects in the local church
4. Wisdom: Students will grow in character; increasing in their demonstration of wisdom and its fruits.
5. Discipleship:  Students will be able to understand and articulate the nature and importance of discipleship–both ordinary (means of grace) and extraordinary (biblical counseling).
6. Communication: Students will grow in the efficacy of their communication (articulation, teaching/speaking, and preaching—respective to various departments) both in content knowledge and rhetorical strategies.
7. Worldview:  Students will demonstrate a growing ability to apply God’s word to all spheres of life, evidenced through class discussion and other assigned assessments.
8. Leadership: Students will grow in their understanding of godly leadership and ability to lead others in service of the local church.