911

Our global community

Join other Anabaptists from around the world

911 offers educational opportunities to church leaders around the globe, opening new possibilities for engagement across borders. Together, we share gifts for mutual growth in building a clarified sense of Anabaptist identity for the global communion and what it means to be Anabaptist in the world today.

In September 2023, AMBS had 65 U.S. students, 11 Canadian students and 73 international students. The graduate student body represented 22 countries.

The seminary’s fully online Master of Arts: Theology and Global Anabaptism (MATGA) program had 51 students in 2023. Nine of these were South Korean students taking MATGA courses in South Korea through a partnership between AMBS and the Nehemiah Institute for Christian Studies in Seoul that began in 2022. Twenty-nine were Ethiopian students who were enrolled in MATGA cohorts through a partnership between AMBS and Meserete Kristos Seminary in Bishoftu/Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, that began in 2019. 

Additionally, 10 students were enrolled in a fully online Spanish-language certificate program that began this fall through a partnership between Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) and AMBS: the MEA Hispanic Ministries – AMBS Graduate Certificate in Theology. Seven students were enrolled in AMBS’s Doctor of Ministry in Leadership, which launched in January 2023. 

In 2023 in AMBS’s distance-friendly undergraduate-level Journey program, 26 of 40 participants reside in countries other than the U.S. and Canada. A cohort of 21 Journey students in Southeast Asia began online classes in languages other than English in 2023.

Our Global Leadership Collaborative

AMBS is collaborating with Mennonite World Conference (MWC) to provide Anabaptist-based theological and church leadership education to Anabaptists around the globe in both for-credit and noncredit formats. Pastors and church leaders are able to take courses in biblical and theological studies, church history and ministry in their home countries. Learn more about this “sharing of gifts” between MWC and AMBS

Online offerings equip Anabaptist leaders around the world

You can gain a quality Anabaptist theological education from a fully accredited, academically robust and theologically grounded seminary without moving away from your family or having to secure a visa.

AMBS faculty members have extensive international experience, intentionally cultivate intercultural competencies, and utilize global Anabaptist resources for teaching and learning.

Online Short Courses

These six-week online noncredit courses are ideal for new Anabaptists and people seeking to deepen their ministry in the way of Jesus to engage Anabaptist history, thought, witness and practice.

  • Courses offered on a rotating basis include: Exploring Peace and Justice in the Bible; Exploring Anabaptist History and Theology; Understanding Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture: What’s Different and Why?; and Transforming Congregational Conflict and Communication.
  • Participants explore the resources of the Anabaptist witness across five centuries as a source of inspiration and guidance in our witness today.
  • The courses involve readings from seminary-level textbooks and online articles and written discussion. Weekly synchronous online hourlong meetings with the instructor are optional.
  • Continuing Education Units are available.

Graduate Certificate in Theological Studies

The customizable 21-credit-hour Graduate Certificate in Theological Studies (GCTS) provides church leaders, bivocational pastors and other professionals with a foundation in theological and biblical study from an Anabaptist perspective.

  • Students choose their own course of study tailored to their interests and learning goals, in consultation with an assigned advisor.
  • Students can complete the program fully online or with any combination of online, hybrid, and campus courses — in one year with full-time study or over the course of several years with part-time study.
  • Students have opportunities for significant interaction with peers from around the world and to learn from various Teaching Faculty members.
  • Students can apply their courses toward requirements for a master’s degree if desired.

Journey: A Missional Leadership Development Program

Journey is an undergraduate-level nondegree program that focuses on spiritual disciplines, theological and biblical studies, character development, mentoring and gifts development to help participants deepen their faith and strengthen their leadership.

  • It’s designed for active leaders of congregations, church planters, pastors called to ministry without a college or seminary education, and lay leaders preparing for a variety of ministries in the church or community.
  • Students can complete the program in two-and-a-half to three years.
  • Upon completion, participants receive a noncredit certificate.

Master of Arts: Theology and Global Anabaptism (MATGA)

The Master of Arts: Theology and Global Anabaptism (MATGA) is a 46-credit-hour fully online academic degree that prepares scholars, teachers, pastors and leaders to integrate knowledge of and formation in the Anabaptist tradition with service in their current and future communities. The program is built around focused study of global Anabaptism in the context of biblical studies, peace studies and practical theology.

Notes

Request more information about AMBS

Are you interested in more information about 911? 

Who (and what) makes us unique