“Moving Forward into a New Era with eLearning”

Life means growing, expanding, and continually striving and moving forward. The summer for Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) was beautiful and exciting on the Barrytown campus, which became the site for a full-length movie and hosted many other groups and activities.

An even more significant move forward is the launching of a new state-of-the-art online, distance learning program.

Two graduate level courses, Divine Principle in Depth, and Unification Apologetics in Practical Contexts, will be taught online during the Fall 2017 semester by two distinguished UTS professors, Dr. Andrew Wilson and Dr. Tyler Hendricks respectively.

Both courses, which are eight weeks long, are credit-bearing, and can lead to a master’s degree from UTS, which is a fully accredited graduate school. In 2018, additional courses that will be taught are Ethics and Social Justice, World Scriptures, and Theology of Peacebuilding. 

For two decades, the co-founders of UTS have been espousing online education. Twenty years ago, the Rev. Moon predicted that the Internet would transform education worldwide.

For the first time, women and men worldwide will have the opportunity to interact remotely, from the comfort of their own homes and offices, with the profound thinking of the most knowledgeable and outstanding Unification scholars. The objective is to equip adult students with the intellectual framework and deep spiritual understanding that is needed to transform their own lives and that of others. More information about the UTS elearning initiative can be found at https://uts.edu/online

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “An informed citizenry is at the heart of a dynamic democracy.” We are called upon to enhance that education with an understanding of God as a loving Heavenly Parent.

We have been pained to see the lack of civility and moral clarity in our contemporary culture. Our Heavenly Parent longs for reconciliation, understanding the point of view of others, finding common ground, and working together in a positive way to solve real problems that beset our world.

Let us continue to seek the love and wisdom of God, which is essential to maintaining a peaceful and compassionate community, nation and world. Our prayer is that greater numbers of people will share this vision and live meaningful, peaceful lives. As a seminary, our mission is to “bridge religious and cultural divides”. This new online initiative is designed to help to make that a reality in people’s lives.

Hugh D. Spurgin

President, Unification Theological Seminary