Tag Archives: Doctor of Divinity

Become Ordained, Get Your Doctor of Ministry D.Min. Degree

The Seminary has received several requests for the Doctor of Ministry degree this month, as well as a Doctor of Sacred Music. Both degrees are geared for people already working with a congregation either in music ministry or “regular” ministry. Some are just beginning to build a congregation, and one guy is an online pastoral counselor but instead of our Ph.D. in Pastoral Counseling, he wants the Doctor of Ministry aka D.Min.  All of these degrees, even the Doctor of Sacred Music allow you to attach Rev. Dr. to the front of your name or D.Min. or Ph.D. to the end of your name. Religious degrees were the first doctorate degrees in the world and in some countries such as the U.K. they still outrank the academic degrees that copied their names. In the United Kingdom the most respected degree is the Doctor of Divinity, abbreviated D.D. or D.Div.  It is a religious doctorate degree also very useful to today’s alternative clergy.

It might be time for you to go for the Doctor of Divinity degree to enhance your work in the field of spirituality. We can help you with your career path and ordain you as a minister or Rabbi, pastor or Chaplain — whatever realm you work in. We are truly an Interfaith Seminary helping to get alternative clergy out there and working in their communities. People who understand multiple faiths and can work to bring interfaith understanding are needed now more than ever, considering the “holy wars” raging all over the world. Just today a news story says Islamic State sickos killed a Hindu priest in Bangladesh at his temple.

Alternative clergy can make a difference and are working right now today in every county of the USA, province in Canada and many countries around the world.  Come and join us!

Interfaith Clergy Pastor Minister Ordained Online Seminary

Get Ordained for Wedding Season, Earn your Seminary Degree during 2015 Graduation Season

Wedding Season 2015 is here! Busy time for Ordained Clergy

officiate marriage same-sex weddingWedding Season started early this year — in April instead of late May. We have done several ordinations this month for people who have been asked to perform a marriage. Two became an ordained minister, one we ordained as a rabbi, and another needed to become a chaplain. We do all the paperwork, and the new clergy member is legal to perform marriages / weddings in all 50 states. One newly ordained minister will likely officiate a same-sex wedding / marriage, next month, he says, which is now legal in his state so we don’t have a problem with it.  If you need speedy and legal ordination so that you can start your ministry or wedding service, we can help you immediately. Just follow the steps on the Ordination Page and get ordained today. Rabbis have a separate ordination page, at the Seminary Rabbi Center. Credentials are shipped out within 24 hours if you have a wedding, we can even scan and email a copy to you immediately. We also help you on the day of the wedding to complete the clergy section of the marriage license brought to you by the bride and groom.

The Season to Graduate with a Religious Seminary Degree

PhD in Pastoral Spiritual Counseling, Doctor of Divinity Degree onlineThis is also the time of year for graduation ceremonies. The Seminary is bestowing several degrees in April, May and June, perfect graduation dates! We are conferring a Ph.D. in Spiritual Counseling, a Doctor of Divinity, a Ph.D. in Pastoral Counseling and a Doctor of Theology.

And oh yes, a Ph.D. in Metaphysics,

one of our more popular degrees — many people feel called to become metaphysicians and serve their community with a spiritual healing / counseling practice.

Mustn’t Forget the Seminary Masters and Bachelors degree candidates

who will get their degrees this week, including one whose family is hosting a graduation ceremony for him at home with cap and gown and the works. His wife will present the diploma from us during the ceremony.

Get Your Religious, Spiritual Seminary Degree Immediately

If you want to graduate this month there is still plenty of time! Just follow the steps on the Ph.D. page or the Doctorate Degree page. Masters and Bachelors degrees.

A Religious Degree for Spiritual Leaders – Seminary Degrees via Online Distance Learning

religious online degree PhD in Pastoral CounselingYou’re a person already working to improve the lives of others. Make the next step by earning a degree, such as Ph.D. in Pastoral Counseling, Ph.D. in Religion, Ph.D. in Metaphysics, Doctor of Divinity or Theology degree (see list of degree titles below). If you are not already ordained clergy, you also become an ordained minister at no extra cost with any degree from our interfaith seminary.

The Seminary is unique in the world because it confers religious degrees designed for all faiths, interfaith and multi-faith. This program empowers you as a spiritual teacher, leader, ordained minister, rabbi, priest, or other clergy by using the skills you already have. You receive the doctorate degree credentials you need to enhance your standing in your community and assure their confidence in you. Get started today on a new career making use of your spiritual ability.

A religious degree will enable you to enter the spiritual / religious workforce OR advance your current career as a spiritual teacher, leader or clergy. The Seminary offers degrees for all faiths in all spiritual fields, such as:

Theology Degrees

Bachelor of Theology, B.Th.
Master of Theology, M.Th.
Doctor of Theology, Th.D.

Divinity

Bachelor of Divinity, B.Div.
Master of Divinity, M.Div.
Doctor of Divinity, D.Div. (Most respected and highest ranking degree in the U.K. and most of Europe)

Metaphysics

Ph.D. in Metaphysics  (you become a religious doctor but also a metaphysician)

PhD in Religious Studies PhD in Spiritual Psychology Counseling Degree onlineDoctor of Pastoral Counseling, D.P.C.

Ph.D. in Pastoral Counseling
Ph.D. in Spiritual Counseling
Ph.D. in Christian Counseling
Ph.D. in Spiritual Psychology

Religious and Spiritual Education Degrees

Ph.D. in Religious Education
Ph.D. in Spiritual Education
Ph.D. in Christian Education

Other Seminary degrees:

Ph.D. in Religious Studies, PhD. in Religion
Bachelors and Masters Degrees of other disciplines

MATCH YOUR DEGREE TITLE TO YOUR SPECIFIC FIELD

You may choose your own religious degree title. Just this afternoon we received a request from an artist for a PhD in Aesthetic Theology.  In over 25 years of granting religious degrees of all kinds, this degree title is new to us – but it is certainly approved. He is also approved to submit some of his art for his thesis.

IF YOU NEED MULTIPLE DEGREES, there are packages. THE SECOND IS HALF-PRICE and Alumni Discount will help you if you want a complete series of degrees, Bachelor, Masters followed by Doctorate Degree. Religious degrees are unique in that you do not have to get a Bachelors or Masters first before receiving a Doctor of Divinity degree, for example or religious degree of Ph.D.

__________________

Esoteric Interfaith Theological Seminary is exempt from accreditation and Authorized by Florida Commission of Independent Education Sec. 1005.06(1)(f) of Religious Institutions to award religious degrees

EIC, Inc. and Theological Seminary | 7257 NW 4th Blvd., Suite 78 | Gainesville, FL  32607

Religious Seminary Degrees with Online Study Jewish & Christian

Christian-based & Jewish-based Religious Degrees with Online Study

Seminary degree online religious degrees doctorate bachelor

Seminary Degree Graduate Pin

For over 25 years now, the Seminary has offered Interfaith and alternative religious degrees to people who do not fit in to mainstream seminaries due to their alternative religious beliefs. Our people study online. Most of our degrees stem from the Christian heritage of Western Civilization (Europe, USA, Commonwealth Countries) such as the Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Theology (Th.D.), and Master of Divinity, Master of Theology (Th.M. or M.Th.), PhD in Pastoral Counseling, Ph.D. in Religion, etc. We also have spiritual degrees such as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Metaphysics and many others. Lesser known are our undergraduate religious degrees, the Bachelors degrees, such as Bachelor of Divinity, Bachelor of Theology also called the Th.B. or B.Th., Bachelor of Religion, etc.

Yesterday, someone inquired about Jewish degrees:

What Bachelor degrees do you offer in Jewish / Judaic fields?

We answered:

The seminary allows you to choose your religious degree title. Jewish Bachelor degrees we have conferred in the past are Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies, Bachelor of Hebrew Studies, Bachelor of Hebrew Theology, Doctor of Jewish Theology, Bachelor of Theology in Judaism, Bachelor of Judaic Studies (we have conferred a Ph.D. in Jewish Studies). Those Bachelor degrees come immediately to mind, but you can customize your own degree title.

You may also receive ordination as a Rabbi at no extra cost. Becoming ordained, whether as a Rabbi or Ordained Minister, offers legal protection should you in future accept donations for any spiritual services or spiritual counseling / advising. Ordination means you become clergy enabling you to develop the clergy – client confidentiality relationship such as attorneys and doctors have. You’ve heard of attorney privilege, there is also clergy privilege.

Then we gave him a list of the requirements for the religious Bachelors Degree programs from the Seminary.

For more on the difference between a PhD in Metaphysics degree vs. a Doctor of Divinity degree, read this.

Find the requirements for ALL our degree programs online here.

Ordination and Doctorate Degree Ceremony

By distance learning, by “remote”, the Seminary can legally ordain you as a minister and confer upon you a religious Doctorate Degree, Ph.D., Doctor of Divinity, Theology, etc.   You submit the information and we process and ship your new clergy credentials.  And then YOU can take it to the next level as this recent graduate did (see photos below), organizing a lovely ordination ceremony and graduation ceremony complete with presentation of the diploma and laying on of hands ordination.

Get your PhD Doctor of Divinity Theology Metaphysics Religion Doctor of Divinity online Become ordainedOnline Ordination PhD Degree Diploma

Is your Seminary degree and ordination real? Is this a diploma mill?

religious online degree PhD in Metaphysics Spiritual PhilosophyA candidate for ordination and a religious doctorate degree asked recently:

“I’d like to ask you about the Doctor of Divinity and PhD in Spiritual Philosophy.  Does the diploma read Esoteric or Interfaith Theological Seminary and what would keep someone from looking it up online and seeing that only a paper was required?”

Somewhere online there are two negative comments about our seminary dated 2007 and 2009. They are actually forum or blog discussions, asking if the seminary is a “diploma mill”. Some guy without a seminary degree gives his opinion — that we are walking a “fine line” but stops short of calling us a diploma mill, then suggests people attend “real” seminaries if they want a Doctor of Theology, Divinity, PhD in Metaphysics, Religion, etc.

The traditional “mainstream” brick and mortar seminaries have been losing students by the droves, and the people they graduate simply cannot find jobs. It’s no wonder spiritual workers want to come to alternative online seminaries like ours. Even worse, each traditional seminary is denomination-specific (unlike ours) and teaches only a narrow set of religious subjects tailored to their specific belief system.  Worse yet(!), besides taking 4 or 5 years to grant you their degree, they are extremely expensive — student-loan debt is astronomical for clergy.

Our seminary is not only affordable with one-time donation fees for ordination or degree, but we are also completely flexible allowing the candidate to decide what and when they will study. And yes, we give credit for current work in the field! The most successful clergy are those that do not attend brick and mortar seminaries, but simply start preaching / teaching / guiding from wherever they are — even if it’s a house church or rented space in a shopping center. People flock to them because they sense the sincerity and the genuineness of the spiritual “food”. Traditional churches and synagogues are being sold off in the thousands due to chronic empty pew syndrome. Drastic decline in membership has been epidemic for the past two decades while alternative non-denominational self-started places of worship with alternative clergy and spiritual teachers are thriving.

There is a misconception that our seminary “only” requires a thesis paper before we grant a degree.

Become an ordained minister online ordination spiritual counselor teacher PhDA religious degree means you become a Doctor of the Church.  The word Doctor comes from the Greek word meaning “Teacher.” The original doctors were spiritual teachers, not physical healers. Those are physicians. Something I notice in your spiritual history is in addition to receiving the “Call” to become ordained, you have also received the Call to TEACH, the Call to become a Doctor of Divinity.  There is presently a tremendous need for clergy and Doctors of the Faith.   And considering your current spiritual teaching / counseling / guiding / coaching you sound definitely called to be one, and qualified to be one.

After so many years of screening applicants, we have developed an uncanny knack of recognizing the right candidates, and drawing only sincere applicants to us. Like attracts like. For over 25 years the Seminary has never (knock on wood) accidentally granted a degree to an unscrupulous person. We’ve had a few close calls over the years, but Providence always seems to intervene and indicate to us this is not someone truly “Called” for ordination or a religious doctorate degree. The candidates to whom the Seminary grants degrees are usually people already working in the field of spirituality / religion and deserve the credentials they have technically earned through their personal study and work. We ordain many people as minister, rabbi, pastor, reverend, spiritual life coach, etc., but only rarely grant religious doctorate degrees – maybe a dozen per year.

A handful of visitors to the Seminary’s website per year do indeed criticize our educational method because we don’t demand they sit through four+ years of denomination-specific classes at a brick and mortar school. We put candidates through an application process, require written work, thorough description of what religious work the candidate is currently doing in the field of spirituality, a detailed description of their goals as clergy and how they will use their ordination and/or degree. The spiritual history compilation and the writing of a doctorate level thesis (or masters level thesis, or Bachelors research paper) are large written works required from each and every candidate before ordination or a degree can be conferred. We have hundreds of lessons online, that all applicants are invited to study if the particular lesson appeals to them. Most of our lessons are optional (only required if you want a transcript) because as mentioned above, most people who study here are already spiritual leaders, teachers or spiritual / pastoral counselors.

Furthermore, we only grant degrees to active clergy. If a person is not an ordained minister or other clergy when they come to us, the Seminary’s parent church will ordain them for free as a requirement for the religious degree. Communities are in great need of clergy and religious teachers who give people guidance that truly resonates with their life. People crave spiritual teachings and religious “systems” that make sense in today’s world, not something that only makes sense thousands of years ago — although it’s especially awesome when a teaching applies to BOTH ancient man and current humanity!

PhD in Spiritual Counseling Religion Doctor of Theology Divinity Life CoachAs the seminary repeatedly reminds everyone in our online lessons, we humans are 3-part beings, Mind-Body-Spirit. For too long people have ignored or suppressed their spiritual third. Many (most?) are asleep to their spiritual side, but for those actively seeking spiritual “food” aka teachings, for those wanting to “awaken”, we want teachers (like you) to be out there ready to point the way, gently guide, suggest, lead, inspire – and above all READY TO SERVE. Serving the religious and spiritual needs of a community is a very high Calling indeed. It’s a calling with a capital “C”, as the saying goes. That much has not changed over thousands of years.

In the past there have been restrictions on who gets to answer that Call, and who gets to be “certified” and “labelled” as clergy, as religious doctors aka teachers. For instance, women have not been able to answer that Call until quite recently. And there are restrictions put on even the men — “requirements” and “rules” for who can do spiritual teaching, preaching, advising, life coaching. You have to be approved by committee and “authorities”.

Our Seminary and the Esoteric Interfaith Church, Inc. that founded it, believe only the Divine can choose who gets ordained, who gets degreed as a Doctor (“Teacher”) of the Faith. There should be no restrictions on who is allowed to answer the Call, as long as they espouse a positive spirituality, no matter if they are male or female, seminary trained or self-trained. When the Call comes to a person it is a very intimate, powerful, personal event. Who has the right to demean or disparage a person answering that Call to ordination, spiritual healing or teaching?

Of course clergy should be put through an application process where all who want clergy credentials are screened to make sure they are not pretending to have been Called, not intending to use their clergy status to harm others while claiming to want to help them.  We screen all our applicants via the application process, the compilation of the spiritual history, etc. and require them to make a pledge to use their ordination status only for the service of humanity. Each candidate must make that pledge or their application is not approved.

One major goal of the Esoteric Interfaith Theological Seminary and its parent the Esoteric Interfaith Church, Inc. is to end up with graduates spread across the country, in every state, in every county and city,  We actually have dozens of alumni now in many countries all around the world, including places you might not expect such as China, the Middle East, Nigeria, Indonesia (struggling population there as Islam continues to take over all aspects of life).

Our alumni give the people they serve an alternative to the restrictive, exclusive “club”, tired-old forms of religion. Today’s spiritual seeker wants a new kind of clergy, someone who can give them spiritual gems they can put to use immediately in their life. If you weren’t one of those “different kind of clergy”, it is my firm belief you would not be reading this.

spiritual counselor pastor reverend rabbi

You can read more about some of these legal issues on our FAQ page here:  http://northernway.org/faq.html

Get Ordained: to see the three-step process how to become an ordained minister, visit this page.

See our religious degree programs here, and for the PhD specifically go here.

PhD in Metaphysics vs Doctor of Divinity Religious degrees

The Esoteric Interfaith Church, Inc. and its earlier branch the unincorporated Metaphysical Interfaith Church have been ordaining ministers since 1987. But two years later the church also established a seminary to further train our ministers and alternative clergy and has been granting religious degrees ever since.

Today one of our degree candidates — who will also become an ordained minister at no extra cost — asked about the Ph.D. versus the Doctor of Divinity degree. She has studied the Barbara Brennan  healing system and is already working in the field as a spiritual healer. Of course she wants ordination as a minister in order to protect herself legally and be able to set and accept suggested donations for PhD in Metaphysics Doctor of Divinity for spiritual healers ordained ministers reiki practitionersher pastoral counseling and spiritual healing practice. But she also wants a religious doctorate degree to reassure those in her circle and give her parishioners / members added peace of mind. The word “Doctor” in front of a spiritual healing minister’s name isn’t about prestige but about reassurance and confidence in the one who is serving humanity. She asked:

QUESTION: My intention is to teach workshops at bookstores, healing centers and workshop centers as well as  having my own “clients” in my spiritual ministry.  I also wish to reach Hospice Centers and Rehab Centers that are connected to the Hospitals.  Do you still think the Ph.D. in Metaphysics is more beneficial than the Doctor of Divinity degree?  Which religious degree is more ‘beneficial, accepted and known’ in mainstream hospitals and healing centers?

ANSWER:  Both degrees allow you to attach Dr. to the front of your name, but the PhD in Metaphysics also allows you to attach PhD to the end of your name. The PhD is known all over the world and is the most widely recognized and highest ranking doctorate degree compared to the Doctor of Divinity.  Some mainstream hospitals and healing centers might not understand what “Metaphysics” is, but they also won’t necessarily know what a doctorate in “Divinity” is.  If you were in the U.K., I’d tell you to go with the Doctor of Divinity because that degree is the highest pinnacle of education for the U.K. and Europe. But the Doctor of Divinity doesn’t mean healing to them, rather academic achievement. In your case, I keep leaning toward the PhD in Metaphysics for you because it is for religious philosophers, but also has to do with spiritual healing. The PhD in Metaphysics is the most common degree of choice for spiritual healers and actually allows the holder to call themselves a “metaphysician” and a “doctor”. Many like the term meta-physician meaning “beyond a physician”, or a different kind of healing, not “mere” physical healing. Some do hypnotherapy, Reiki, EFT and even NLP.

Of course our metaphysicians do not practice medicine without a license, we are only talking about spiritual healing here.   Even so, the words have power and are applied to all healers, all practitioners of body, mind and spirit healing modalities. We have conferred the PhD in Metaphysics on dozens of graduates over the years.