GENERAL NEWSLETTER6: 1 July 2010

No Accreditation for Seminaries

Having just returned from the triennial conference of ICHE (The International Council for Higher Education), held in Switzerland, I was again forcibly struck by the fact that seminaries in certain parts of Europe (and this is also the case in many parts of South America) simply cannot get government accreditation. This is not because they do not offer quality programmes, but simply because they are evangelical. This is a deeply lamentable state of affairs. SATS has always been of the view that we should actively seek to forge partnerships with like-minded groups around the world, and as such, we have been able to assist a number of seminaries and Bible Colleges who have not been able to get accreditation. If you would like to find out more about these kinds of partnerships, please feel free to contact me at reuben@sats.edu.za. Dr Reuben van Rensburg Principal

......................................................

It is wonderful to hear early reports of successful evangelistic initiatives associated with the World Cup, currently taking place here in South Africa. One church, which is showing many of the games on a big screen, reports that at least 54 people have already accepted Christ!

We would love to hear from you if you have similar testimonies. Please email jenny@sats.edu.za and we will try to include as many of them as possible in a feature article to appear on our website soon after the final.

Our courses change churches

This week we received the following testimony about a children's ministry course from one of our students:

“This course is brilliant. ... To be honest, I would never have done this course if it was not compulsory, but thank you for making it so! Please keep it compulsory so that people like me can catch the heart of God for children's ministry. In the past, much of what happened in the children's church has been run by the youth and a select few faithful adults. After much discussion and searching of the Scriptures, we, as the pastors and elders of this church, have decided to completely change the format of the children's ministry in our Church, plainly because the previous model was found to be unbiblical.”

Re-accredited!

We are proud to announce that all our programmes which had run their six-year acreditation cycle, have been re-accredited by the Council on Higher Education. Our students can therefore be assured that the qualifications they receive from SATS are nationally and internationally comparable. A full list of all the accredited programmes available at private South African institutions appears at http://www.education.gov.za/dynamic/imgshow.aspx?id=3695

The 4 to 14 window

SATS has a fairly extensive children's ministry programme, but we have realised that there is much more we can do and so we have put several measures in place to remedy the situation. Our academic team are working hard on reviewing aspects of the curriculum to ensure that we offer a more holistic approach. In addition Dr van Rensburg and Mrs Bev van Rensburg will be attending the 4 to 14 Conference in New York in September, as part of our commitment.