To better serve its students and the church around the world, Beeson is building friendships with seminaries in Egypt, Ukraine, Malaysia and India, while bolstering missions opportunities for students, faculty and the local community.
In addition to caring well for the international students at Beeson and working to bring in more in years to come, the school is raising money to begin exchange programs with several seminaries, sending students and faculty abroad, and possibly bringing faculty to Beeson. These seminaries include Alexandria School of Theology in Cairo, Egypt, Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary in Penang, Malaysia, New Theological College in Dehradun, India, and Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Along with the exchange program, Beeson recently began a new financial assistance fund to support students with non-tuition needs, whichis especially felt by international students. The school is also working to expand its cross-cultural ministry practicum program, offering longer trips and involving local churches.
Currently, all Master of Divinity students must participate in a two-week cross-cultural ministry practicum (CCMP). With support from donors, Sweeney hopes students would have the option to go on two-month CCMPs, if they choose to do so, potentially joined by local church leaders who partner with Beeson.
In addition, program plans call for faculty to have the option to lead two-week CCMP and teaching trips abroad, taking Beeson students with them, while also having the opportunity once a year to attend an overseas conference alongside a church or Beeson ministry partner.
“All of these programs will rely largely on financial support from donors,” Sweeney said. “The scale at which we meet those goals will depend on supporters.”
The ultimate goal of the exchange program is to send five students and two faculty members each year.
Sweeney and Beeson faculty have established relationships with and visited seminary leaders, discussing how they can help each other and learn from one another, including sharing access to resources, teaching courses and providing faculty at the international seminaries a chance towrite while spending time at Beeson. Students will benefit from the exchange program by learning to be “good citizens of the Kingdom of God,” Sweeney said.
“Even if you’re in Birmingham, we want you to have a global mindset so you can help people in your congregation give, pray, go and support missions,” Sweeney said.
This step is a sign of Beeson’s growth as a school as it enters its “second season” of institutional life, Sweeney said.
“In the first generation of Beeson, we carved out a place for ourselves in our community, in our state and in our region,” Sweeney said. “In this next stage of life, we want to build on that growth, continuing to serve those in our region to the best of our ability while expanding our efforts to recruit students and build relationships both nationally and internationally.”
GIVE: You can support these efforts by giving online.