Each prospective student should consider carefully the following regulations concerning admission to the Seminary before submitting any application materials:

Christian Experience and Conduct

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary is a Christian institution whose primary purpose is to provide theological training for effective service in church-related and missions vocations. Applicants to the Seminary must have professed Christ as Savior for at least one year before registration. Maturity of character, personal integrity, and commitment to Christian service are necessary for acceptable study in the Seminary.

It is required that students conduct themselves in a manner deemed by the Seminary as consistent with biblical standards of moral purity. In particular, married students are expected to maintain marital fidelity, and single students are expected to maintain sexual abstinence. Departure from biblical standards of moral purity disqualifies individuals for admission to the Seminary or continued enrollment.

Regulation Regarding Divorce

The Seminary holds the position that marriage is intended to be a lifelong covenant between one woman and one man. The primary biblical passages that support this understanding are: Matthew 5:32; 19:3-9; Mark 10:9; Luke 16:18 and Malachi 2:16. Therefore, the Seminary seeks to honor God’s original intention of marriage and views divorce as a serious matter.

The Seminary does not admit anyone as a student who has ever been divorced or whose spouse has ever been divorced in the master’s degree programs or doctoral programs.

This regulation applies without exception both to those who are innocent parties of divorce and to others. Such a policy does not judge the manner of life of any divorced person.

Regulations Regarding Female Students

The Seminary admits women as students to study for any program except for degree programs designed to prepare students to serve as pastors (Master of Divinity in pastoral ministry, Doctor of Ministry in practical theology, pastoral ministry or expository preaching, and Doctor of Philosophy in Old Testament [including Hebrew], New Testament [including Greek], theology, and practical theology [pastoral track]). Female students are welcome to audit or to take for credit any individual course offered in the curriculum for which they are otherwise qualified. This policy accords with the Seminary’s conviction that the ordained pastor of a church must be male. We believe that God has signally blessed women and has given them a position of honor and opportunities for service. However, we believe that Scripture prohibits a woman from serving as pastor of a church. The following Scriptures specifically support this understanding: 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 2:9-15, and 1 Corinthians 11:3ff.