BUIES CREEK, N.C. (ABP) — Campbell University's Divinity School and School of Education have teamed up to form a new degree — the master of divinity/master of arts in community counseling.
The program is unusual in that it combines theological training with clinical counseling.
Administrators hope the joint degree program will enable recipients to have a career in either ministry or private clinical practice. Students who graduate with the degree will also have the opportunity to obtain a professional counseling license after additional counseling experience.
According to Barry Jones, associate dean for academic programs with the Campbell University Divinity School, the additional aspect of counseling in a theological degree has become an “increasingly important” way for the church to meet needs.
“This program demonstrates the advantages of theological education in a university setting,” Jones said in a news release. “Ministry students have the opportunity to integrate their theological studies with the theory and practice of professional counseling under expert supervision.”
Expected to begin in the fall of 2006, the new degree program will require 115 semester hours to complete.
Campbell is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and sits 30 miles south of Raleigh. Its 8,000 students make it the second-largest private university in North Carolina.
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