Gelnhausen, Germany - European Nazarene College (EuNC) unveiled a new online German-language collection of courses during the German District Assembly 5 and 6 March.

The EuNC-Online Deutsch program, which starts in April, was the result of discussing educational needs with the Germany district, said Rector Klaus Arnold. In Germany, EuNC’s Spiritual Formation and Christian Ministry certificates, as well as its four-year Bachelor of Arts in Religion program, are offered only in English at the campus in Büsingen.

The new program is designed to accomplish three goals:

• Educate those who cannot study in English.
• Offer ministerial courses for those who cannot come to the campus for longer periods of time because of family, work or ministry commitments.
• Offer courses that don’t require long distance travel to participate in class.

EuNC will be able to reach a new constituency with the EuNC-Online Deutsch program, Arnold said.

The German-language program will start with a limited number of courses: Introduction to College Studies, God’s Mission and the Church, and Introduction to the New Testament.

Plans are for the courses to be expanded in the future so that the entire Level 1 Spiritual Formation Certificate is offered online in German.

“At the same time,” Arnold said, “we still want to recruit German students for the campus in Büsingen.”

The reasons are that full-time students who attend on campus can finish their studies much faster than part-time online students; being part of campus life and classroom discussions is especially important for character and spiritual formation. Additionally, minimum ordination requirements can be offered online.

“For younger and inexperienced students, the longer and more comprehensive study at the campus is probably the better preparation for ministry,” he said. “However, both programs are complementary. All online courses are ‘BA accredited’ (BA level) and will be accepted for the BA program if students decide to continue their studies on the campus. We are teaching the same courses online as we are teaching on campus, just not as many.”

The new German language program is available not only to German Nazarenes, but to any German-speaking students from Europe or around the world.

Courses are scheduled for April, May and October.

For more information on the program (in German), visit www.eunc.edu/lc-de. For more general information (in English), visit www.eunc.edu.