ETSC Update: June 2014

ETSC Update: June 2014

monthly news bulletin from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo

Looking back and looking ahead

We are looking back and looking forward here at ETSC today.
 
We look back to graduation week and are grateful for the peaceful streets of Egypt during the Presidential Election. Egypt is on the Road to Democracy and our graduates’ families enjoyed safe travels.

Celebrations began on Wednesday at a dinner hosted by the faculty for the students and their families. This was held on the rooftop of the Library/ Faculty housing building. The temperature dropped from the previous day’s 102 (F) temperatures and provided a pleasant break. Thursday was the day for acknowledging the students’ achievements during an award ceremony in the Conference Center.  Another dinner followed in the Dining Room. The week climaxed at the Heliopolis Evangelical Church with an overflow crowd for the Commencement Ceremonies. The main speaker was Rev. Dr. Makram Naguib, previous Chairman of the ETSC Board of Trustees. This event was live streamed to our partners around the globe.

Our graduates this year included 14 men who earned their Masters of Divinity degree on the Ordination Track.  Four part- time students earned their non-ordination Bachelor’s Degree; five students earned their counseling Diploma; three students earned their Biblical Studies Diploma; four students earned their Missions Diploma and one student earned her General Diploma.  These thirty one graduates included eleven women which is the highest number of women in any graduating class.  ETSC is proud of these alumnae who will represent us well as they go out to serve the Lord in both ordained and lay capacities in the Protestant churches of Egypt.

Due to the generous contributions of authors and publishers, every Ordination Track graduate was given a “beginning library” of seventy volumes.  Additional donations made smaller starter libraries
for those who earned their Diplomas
Looking ahead to our Anniversary Celebration in November-  We are five months away from festivities planned for our 150th Anniversary and the guest list is growing.  We hope you will consider joining us for these two days of events November 13-14.

ETSC Assistant Professor Anne Zaki will preach at the 221st meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Detroit, MI on Thursday, June 19th at 11:15 a.m. EDT.
The Assembly is live streamed daily. We invite you to watch Anne preach on the G.A. live link.

We invite you to pray for:

  • The undergraduate students began their internships shadowing pastors, working in Compassionate Care locations (Addicts rehabilitation program, Prisons, Hospitals and development ministry) as well as Media ministry. Third year students will be providing pastoral leader ship to congregations without pastors. Please pray for them and for those they minister to in the months ahead.
  • Our graduates begin their process toward licensure and ordination when they start serving a local congregation this summer. Pray for them as they make this adjustment to full time ministry and move their families to new locations.
  • Dr. Sherif Salah Habib is in his first module of intensive coursework toward a Doctorate in Missiology at Fuller Theological Seminary.
  • The Seminary Faculty continues to revise their class offerings to accommodate the Curriculum revisions that will be in place for the Fall Semester. The new degrees and the academic credit load behind each one will qualify ETSC for international accreditation in the future. The degrees include:
    • M.Div.–Master of Divinity (previously called the Bachelor of Divinity)
    • MAT–Master of Arts in Theology with specializations in Biblical Studies, Theology and Church History, Mission and Religion, Practical and Pastoral Theology including Counseling
    • MAOL–Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership
    • ThM–Master of Theology with specializations in Biblical Studies, Christianity in the Middle East or Systematic Theology
    • In addition, a D.Min.  (Doctor of Ministry) in partnership with Fuller Theological Seminary will begin in 2015-16. Applications are being accepted now to allow students an additional year of training in Academic English to achieve the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score requirements.
  • The annual faculty retreat is July 11-14th at Beit El Salam, near Alexandria