The University of Dubuque and Mt. Zion Baptist Church have teamed up to provide theological courses and training.
For around two years, the University of Dubuque’s Theological Seminary has partnered with Mt. Zion Baptist Church on Madison’s South Side with its Madison Learning Community initiative. Chris James, from the University of Dubuque, researched around 100 churches where he realized that there was a stark lack of seminary training opportunities. In an effort to provide adequate training, he approached Mt. Zion with the opportunity to enrich abilities to lead at churches.
“I’ve been able to help so many who do not have the ability to travel to Dubuque or even travel across the country to get some level of theological training,” said Dr. Rev. Marcus Allen of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. “They can get that training right here.”
Students are mostly from the area, but the current furthest student comes as far as Portage, Allen said. Students are made up from all denominations in a variety of courses that range from theological studies to how to lead a church in the community and accounting sides.
There are few opportunities to have rich theological studies in Madison. While the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison College have theological courses, programs are centered on preparing them initially to lead churches. The partnered program between Mt. Zion and the University of Dubuque allows a deeper, quality study from experienced leaders in churches.
“They started bringing professors that are in the area that are already pastors who have doctorate degrees to be able to teach students on different subjects,” Allen said. “[Students] come from everywhere around just to try to get a deeper understanding of what they believe, and then also give them the ability to communicate what they learn to others.”
The program so far has run for six semesters; class sizes have been around 20 per class. Allen’s very first course he taught in January 2023 was on preaching. The goal was to give students resources to become better orators. His current class is leading thriving churches.
The course is centered on developing a culture for churches to thrive, not just survive.
“As the pastor of Mt. Zion, we’re not just here to survive through COVID, but we want to thrive,” Allen said. “We were able to do a lot of great things. We may pay our mortgage off. We were able to help the community and do a lot of new programs. We’re starting a mental health clinic here at the church.”
For Allen, and what he teaches his students, a thriving church is “not just about your church on Sunday Mornings.” He focuses on how it can serve the community to better the lives of everyone.
Scholarships help cover costs for students of color. Allen notes that many African American pastors are bi-vocational and can’t travel or find the funds to pursue theological training.
For those interested in courses, registration can be found on Madison Seminary’s website. Courses meet once a week on Tuesdays from 5:30-7:40 p.m.
