By Rick Cherok
Great Lakes Christian College (GLCC) in Lansing, MI, announced on April 21, 2025, that they have received approval to launch a Master of Arts in Practical Theology degree, beginning in July 2025. The regional vacuum created with the demise of Cincinnati Christian Seminary and the relocation of Lincoln Christian Seminary to Ozark Christian College, opened a door of opportunity for GLCC to offer an initial graduate degree and possibly other graduate degrees in the future.
Only a few years ago, GLCC’s future was in question when the institution’s accreditation status was placed on probation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) on November 3, 2022. Due primarily to fiscal concerns, the probationary sanctions were removed on November 7, 2024, when financial and other matters were addressed by the college and the institution’s student population increased.
“As we came off of probation,” Dr. John Nugent, Vice President of Academic Affairs at GLCC, recalled, “our accreditation site team asked why we had not considered developing a graduate program.” The site team, he said, “thought we were modest in our expectations” for the school and “encouraged us to go beyond that.” When institutional leaders looked at the possibility and discussed it further with the HLC, they soon realized that they were already much closer to a graduate degree program than they had ever imagined.
“We have had a qualified team of professors for a long time,” said Nugent, “and a steady stream of our graduates have gone to other regions for graduate study.” Yet, Nugent further explained, “there were several things that had to line up for us to develop a quality program.” In addition to discovering the recent technological advances that would make GLCC’s program viable and accessible, they were also able to add Dr. Paul Kissling, a veteran educator, as the director of the new program. Before long, Nugent explained, they college’s leaders were saying, “We can do this and do it with excellence!”
Noting that there are seven states that make up the Great Lakes Region, Nugent pointed out that these states are home to some 3,700 Restoration Movement churches. In addition, he explained, there are around 9,300 non-denominational evangelical churches in these states as well. This provides GLCC with a drawing area of around 13,000 churches within a region that has very few graduate programs that would fit the mold for what GLCC will be offering.
GLCC’s Master of Arts in Practical Theology will be a 36-hour program that’s designed for busy ministry professionals and aspiring leaders. It will offer both online and in-person learning opportunities and the degree may be completed in either two or four years, depending on each student’s learning flexibility. The president of GLCC, Dr. Frank Weller, explains, “This program equips students not just with hard and soft skills—but with a deeper spiritual life essential for 21st-century ministry.”
The GLCC team’s desire for this degree, according to Nugent, was the creation of a program “that levels you up as a thinker, but has a practical element woven into it from the outset.” Nugent further explained, “Some graduate degrees are so practical that the information learned becomes outdated within a few years. Others are so academic that graduates struggle to bridge the gap between classroom and church. We are excited to launch a program that takes students to the next level in both their theological thinking and their ministerial practice.”
In addition to the educational aspects of GLCC’s new degree, Nugent said they want to “experiment with distance learning” to create a “wholistic program” that “connects student to one another and to the school.” Along with the planned launch of a podcast specifically for GLCC graduate students, Nugent disclosed that they will establish prayer partnerships and “try to develop a network of pastoral and kingdom friendships” that go well beyond the academic parameters of the program.
Nugent made it clear that he believed this degree would not only “benefit the people in our area,” but would equip the recipients of this degree “to serve churches in the region.”
Rick Cherok serves as Managing Editor of Christian Standard, Executive Director of Celtic Christian Mission, and Director of Men’s Services at Kentucky Christian University.
0 Comments