Getting reading for graduation in Moscow

Tomorrow we will hold our graduation and homecoming ceremonies in Moscow. As you can imagine, it's been a very busy and hectic week. Here are some highlights of the week and some tidbits of information.

• ETSM (Eurasian Theological Seminary in Moscow) first began 1998. Because of the limited facilities, ETSM only trained one cohort (consisting of 26 students) during the first three years. (I.e., we didn't take in a new group of students during the second and third years - there simply was no space for a second classroom). The initial cohort held its graduation service in 2002.
  
• When ETSM moved into its present facility in 2002, ETSM started with their second cohort and, subsequently, has taken in a new group of students every year since.
• Since 1998, ETSM has trained 98 students in its full-time program. There have been an additional 68 students enrolled in our "Moscow extension" - a program designed for those who take up to four intensive courses a year on our campus.
• These numbers do not include the extensions and seminars that we have held in Siberia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Kaliningrad. I don't have these number on hand, but we're talking about another 85 people involved in our training programs.
• We have a great faculty, most of whom were trained at our denominational seminary in the States.
  
• We have been blessed with a great building. Okay, I sometimes get irritated by the relatively small chapel. But we have the best building for any evangelical seminary in Moscow and throughout most of Russia. (Lots of thanks go to my predecessor Rodolfo Giron who was an architect before entering the ministry.)
  

What goals do we have for the future?

• We're so close to amending our status from "religous organization" to also that of a licensed educational institution.
  
• We're seriously looking at applying for state accreditation for the Russian "state standard" diploma - something that was evasive for religious organizations until this spring.
• We're candidates with the regional evangelical accrediting association. Perhaps we can finish the self-study and inspection during the next year.
• ETSM is one of six evangelical schools in Ukraine and Russia that is forming a consortium for online education. We are scheduled to go online in September 2009. If all goes as planned, we will be the first pentecostal/charismatic school to offer an accredited online education in the Russian language. For a sneak peak at the consortium website, click here (Warning, you need to brush up on your Russian.)