Advanced Certificate

Black Church Studies

Northeastern Seminary’s Black Church Studies certificate program is designed for students who want to deepen their understanding of the history, theology, and biblical interpretation unique to the Black Church. The certificate program is designed to equip men and women to be scholars, church practitioners, and transformative leaders in urban or suburban congregations and other settings within African American culture and beyond.

Black Church Studies

Engage in ministries of compassion, mercy, justice and reconciliation justice, and love in Black communities of faith. You will explore the history, theology, and biblical interpretation unique to the Black Church experience. You will be taught tools to apply authentic, critical, and responsible interpretation and use of Scripture in the Black Church experience.

By examining the historical place of the Black Church, you’ll be better equipped to address individual and systemic injustice in local and global contexts. This program is an excellent option for those who seek to be prepared and equipped to pursue further academic scholarship in the field of the Black Church experience and social justice.

This 18-credit program can be completed in 2 years, or seamlessly use credits from the certificate program towards a Master of Arts degree.

Need flexibility as a working adult? Northeastern Seminary strives to make our seminary experience as flexible as possible. This 18-credit ministry degree can be completed 100% online with occasional options to take an onsite class in Rochester, New York. Students can also select a full-time or part-time schedule to accommodate career and family commitments.

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"We're excited because it is an opportunity to explore the dynamics of the black churches, looking at the black church from a historical perspective, its significance, and impact on culture and community."

— Program Director Rev. Dr. Fred Johnson

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Total Program
Sticker Price: $10,990

Less than 15% of students
pay this amount

98% of students who applied
for a scholarship received one

Tuition & Aid

Meet Our Faculty

Rev. Dr. Fredrick Johnson

Fred Johnson

The Black Church Series:

"Women in Ministry & Leadership"

Learn More

Rebuild Conference

Join us this summer for the Rebuild Conference which will include several workshops on reconciliation, community development, and more.

Conference 2023

Black Church Studies- Featured Courses

 

History of the Black Church

The historical role of the Black Church in the Black community is emphasized in conjunction with the contributions and distinctive characteristics within American Protestantism. The course focuses on an examination and interpretation of the history of the Black church, including the seven historic American Black denominations and other Pentecostal Associations and Non-Denomination affiliations.

Black Theology

The course will examine the enduring institution and changing dynamics of the Black Church from its inception in America to the present. It will explore its changing history, theology, Biblical interpretation, culture, education, ethics, and ministry. It will examine the importance of the Black Church in the life of the community and its people. Emphasis includes the relationship between the twentieth-century Black liberation theologies and civil rights movements. The lives and contribution of Black women and men who offered new theological interpretations, and social change movements, and provided a foundation for the global church in the twenty-first century is examined.

Leadership in the Black Church

The course is designed to acquaint students with major figures, movements, and issues in African American theological and ethical traditions with particular emphasis on leadership. The course explores theological and sociological concerns within respective traditions and offers a forum for practical engagement with contemporary problems associated with African American church life and culture.

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The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education, which stops with efficiency, may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals. We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Stackable Curriculum - Certificate to Master’s

Graduates of the certificate may go on to complete an M.A. or M.Div. without losing any credits with Northeastern Seminary's stackable curriculum.

Your Black Church Studies education develops the ministry skills to become a change agent in your ministry context.

Continue your education with another stackable block of courses to receive a Master of Arts degree in Ministry Practice or Theological Studies.

Complete the requirements for service as a chaplain when you assemble multiple stackable competency blocks to earn your Master of Divinity with a Black Church Studies concentration.

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Click the link below to start your application today! You can save and log back in at any time. Reach out to the admissions team at any time for help in the process.

Join a Zoom

Register for an upcoming zoom session with the admissions teams to learn more about the Theological Studies program. 

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Program Guide

Download the Program Guide below to see a sample schedule for students entering the Theological Studies program.

https://info.nes.edu/moreinfo