“There is a large, what we call ‘evangelical, Protestant’ community down here,” McDonald said. “There is a growing need, and now an awareness that something unique is going to happen through Sioux Falls Seminary.”

Sioux Falls Seminary is looking to move into Nebraska as a way to expand its mission on the Northern Plains and to help secure its future, too.

Seminary officials have applied with the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education in Lincoln, Neb., to offer a master of divinity and a doctor of ministry in the Omaha area.

If approved, it would be the first Protestant seminary offering such coursework in Nebraska, officials with the seminary and state said. A public hearing on the request is set for 10 a.m. June 14 in Omaha.

Ron Sisk, academic vice president for the Baptist-founded seminary that now serves 25 different denominations, said his institution is working with Grace University and Covenant Presbyterian Church – both in Omaha – to hold classes in their facilities.

Sisk said recruiters have made regular trips to Omaha and have ongoing contacts with church communities there, “and we do have potential students identified, so … it looks very promising.”

Kathleen Fimple, academic programs officer for the Coordinating Commission, said her agency has been vetting Sioux Falls Seminary’s application. Her state agency authorizes academic programs in Nebraska.

The seminary’s programs and faculty – now serving a full-time equivalent of about 120 students in Sioux Falls – “all look very good,” Fimple said, adding that its financial situation probably will draw a lot of interest from her board.

Read More: http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110522/NEWS/105220335/Seminary-branches-out

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