By Marcus McCormic
The Master’s University (TMU) Online Department is creating opportunities for people around the world to learn from and connect with professors and students right here in Santa Clarita.
TMU online has recently released a free online course, taught by Bible professor Dr. William Varner, called Land of the Bible on The Center for Thinking Biblically. It is a resource that is used to teach both the undergraduate and graduate biblical studies students.
“It wasn’t just him giving a tour of the land, he was actually diving right into the Word of God and saying here is what the Word of God was talking about,” said Matthew Frields, director of marketing and enrollment for the online department. “We had a ton of requests to make this available, and Varner just lovingly said, ‘Hey, let’s put this out there for free.’”
The series provides an experience similar to that of the Israel Bible Extension Program (IBEX).
“It’s 34 hours of content, and we look at areas such as Old Jerusalem, the city of David, mount Zion, Jericho, the Temple Mount, the area of Galilee and Nazareth, and there’s so much more that’s involved,” Frields said.
The series has been utilized to help finish the courses and experience that the IBEX students of the fall 2023 semester were unable to complete abroad.
“I want to be careful to compare it to IBEX because it’s nothing like the IBEX experience,” Frields said.
In addition to providing ways to experience the abroad programs, the online department also has courses that connect students with professors in ways beyond academics.
“One of the things we do have is a course which they take, and it’s really a discipleship course,” Frields said. “It’s a pure spiritual development course… and it really works on helping them grow spiritually.”
To further the mission of the university through the online department, a new series called The Pursuit, focused around “pursuing your walk with Christ,” is being released. So far, it is being hosted by Bible department chair, Dr. Greg Gifford, who also oversees the undergraduate degree in biblical counseling, and Jared Kingsley, an assistant Bible professor.
“We built that specifically for our students to help them get that spiritual feeding of the word that you really get here at Master’s through all of your classes,” Frields said.
The efforts of the department to make online students feel like they are members of the TMU family has paid off, according to Frields.
“There’s a bond that happens with our online students and a lot of people don’t really get to see,” Frields said. “Just this last year we had two or three people come all the way out from graduation. There are older adults who have developed these relationships with our professors and even other students, and they’ve never met them in person.
“When you get to see them come and be here for graduation, they get to meet the professors that have interacted with them in an online environment. We laugh because we always say it’s like meeting TV celebrities for them because they’ve been watching their lectures.”
According to Frields, the online courses the students take are just as challenging as the ones offered in person on campus, and then they get to meet the people who pushed them to grow throughout the time.
The department is still growing, with the possible opportunities of new majors being added to the online catalog.
“We’re looking at other degrees, possibly certificate programs and more,” Frields said.
The online department is also planning on offering new ways to take online courses and to make them more interactive and seem like the on-campus experience.
The TMU Mane 