Track Offerings

Students may enroll in MCTS in either Track One or Track Two. Both tracks are available for either resident or distance learners. Individuals are also permitted to audit courses at the discretion of the faculty instructor. Click HERE for an application form for onsite students or HERE for an application form for distance students.

The fees and tuition requirements for Track One and Two students are the same.

 Track One

The special mission of the Midwest Center is to minister to men who aspire to the vocational Christian ministry. These men will be enrolled as Track One students. The paragraphs below address the special procedures for the acceptance and care of such students.

The Bible makes clear that some men are so gifted by God that they should labor vocationally as a pastor or minister of the Word of God (1 Cor. 9:14; Gal. 6:6; 1 Tim. 5:17). The primary purpose of the Midwest Center for Theological Studies is to provide a thorough theological education for men who are presently in the pastorate and those who aspire to the vocational Christian ministry (2 Tim. 2:2).

Admission as a Track One student to the Midwest Center requires first that the pastor or elders of the prospective student’s church recommend him as a legitimate aspirant to the vocational ministry. They may do so through a written letter detailing their assessment of his aspirations. The regular faculty of the Midwest Center must then approve the prospective student by means of an interview examining his fitness for enrollment in Track One of the Midwest Center. For practical purposes this interview may be conducted over the phone.

Admission entitles the student not only to take classes for credit in Track One in the Midwest Center, but also includes the special pastoral help and oversight which such an aspirant to the Christian ministry requires. Several aspects of this oversight are indicated in the prospectus. Of course, this status and the oversight it entails only continue as both the elders of the student and the faculty of the Midwest Center view the man’s aspirations as appropriate and legitimate. In other words, this status continues only as long as they view him as a potential, vocational pastor.

Ordinarily, only men who are at least 21 years of age, hold a Bachelor’s Degree and are members in good standing of an evangelical church shall be eligible for acceptance to the Center. The administration of the Midwest Center reserves the right to waive any or all of these entrance requirements or to decline the application of any man to the Midwest Center at its own discretion.

The requirement that a man’s aspirations to the vocational ministry be deemed legitimate and appropriate is not to be construed to mean that his pastor or elders are certain that he will definitely labor full time in the gospel ministry. The intent of this language is simply that the pastor or elders not view such aspirations as misguided because of some observable and significant deficiency in his Christian life or abilities. No man should be engaged in studies for the gospel ministry when an area of glaring weakness in gift or grace makes it unlikely that he will ever be qualified for the Christian ministry.

Accordingly, acceptance as a Track One student in the Midwest Center does not require that a man’s gifts or graces be so mature or evident that his church is ready to free him from a secular vocation in order to study on a full time basis. It is our expectation that many men in their first years of study in the Midwest Center will take classes on a part-time basis. One of the Center’s purposes is to assist men who cannot study full time. For such persons modular, correspondence courses and distance learning may be helpful options.

Here is the most recent edition of the Track One program offered at MCTS. We are in the process of creating a full catalog and replacing our current prospectus with up-to-date information. This document takes the place of the information in our current prospectus.

Track Two

Individuals who do not aspire to the vocational ministry are welcome to enroll in MCTS and take courses for credit as Track Two students. All Track Two students must complete an application form and must be accepted by the administration of MCTS. Upon acceptance and receipt of the registration fee, information for distance learners (text books, access code for streaming or downloading lectures, etc.) will be sent to the applicant. Continuation as a Track One or Track Two student is subject to the discretion of the faculty and administration of the Midwest Center.

Here is the most recent edition of the Track Two program offered at MCTS. We are in the process of creating a full catalog and replacing our current prospectus with up-to-date information. This document takes the place of the information in our current prospectus.