Studying Religion & Philosophy at Houghton

Welcome to the Department of Religion, Philosophy and Graduate Theological Studies!  As you visit this page we hope that you’ll be able to sense our department’s commitment to equipping students for effective service in God’s Kingdom. We invite you to prayerfully consider becoming a student in one of our programs and experience the rich educational and spiritual environment that can serve you well in your preparations to live for God in this world.

We are a department composed of 14 men and women who are passionate about their fields of study and hold terminal degrees in those areas. We have over 100 years of cumulative experience in church related ministry and have broad cross-cultural experience in the countries of Estonia, Canada, Lebanon, Ireland, Germany, Sierra Leone, Russia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and others.

Houghton’s Undergraduate Religion and Philosophy Program

We have many students majoring in Bible, Religion, Educational Ministries, Philosophy and Humanities, while others have others have chosen Minors, or special Concentrations in Urban Ministry, Missions, Theology, and Youth Ministry.

Here are some good reasons you should consider joining the many other students  pursuing our undergraduate programs:

Strengths of our Undergraduate programs

• Our program is designed to take you into a life-changing learning experience to prepare you not only for a future occupation, but for life and ministry wherever God takes you.
• Our faculty members take the time you need to reflect and discuss your individual educational plans.  Your advisor and other professors listen and then offer wise counsel from a varied background of education and experience.
• Our graduates serve as pastors, missionaries and a wide variety of other ministry professionals in a many denominational settings across America and Canada and around the world.  For example, a numbers of our graduates go on to work with Youth for Christ in our county and beyond.
• A number of recent Houghton students have done ministry internships in Australia, working with Australian pastors in a culture that is typically unsympathetic to the claims of Christianity.
• Houghton grads who choose to go to seminary are studying at Asbury Seminary, Assemblies of God Graduate School, Princeton Seminary, Fuller Seminary, Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Chicago Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School, Duke Divinity School, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Oral Roberts University, Regent, Wheaton and many others.
• Department graduates have taught, or are teaching, in seminaries like Asbury, Fuller, Palmer, Talbot, Westminster, Wesley Theological Seminary; and colleges and universities such as Asbury, Westmont, Wheaton, and Seattle Pacific and Wake Forest University.
• Several of our graduates have double-majored in Bible and Biology and have gone on to medical school (such as University of Syracuse, and Dalhousie in Canada).
• Philosophy majors and minors over the past couple of decades have gone in to a wide variety of fields, including education (elementary, secondary, and post-graduate), medicine, church-related ministry, linguistics, law, banking, finance, counseling, public administration, library services, computers, relief work, construction, and writing.  In addition, Houghton continues to experience success placing its alums in graduate programs in philosophy, many of whom currently hold positions as college professors.

Houghton’s Graduate Theological Studies Program

Houghton’s Master of Arts in Theological Studies is a rigorous graduate program shaped by the Liberal Arts and the Wesleyan Theological tradition.  Students will be equipped to engage their culture biblically and theologically. This program is suitable for men and women in traditional forms of ministry, as a foundation for doctoral study, or for people who want to become more theologically informed in their faith.

Strengths of our Graduate Theological Studies education:

FLEXIBLE…
Providing students, both ministerial and alike, with the opportunity to gain better training and credentials, or to prepare for further study at the doctoral level.

AFFORDABLE…
so that students can gain the education they need to serve God more fully in personal and professional capacities.

INDIVIDUALLY PACED…
allowing students to progress in a way that best suits their lives.  There is no course sequencing, and classes are delivered in once per week “block” formats or in one week summer intensives.

Please visit our Graduate Theological Studies website at
www.houghton.edu/graduatetheology; email: gts@houghton.edu.; or contact 585-567-9460 for more information.