Blog Interview – Dr. Dave Johnson – Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Philippines

1) Please introduce yourself and your role at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary

My name is Dave Johnson and I am a member of the faculty at the Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS) in Baguio City, Philippines. My speciality is overseeing the school’s publishing ministry, both books and our Journal, the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies.

2) Tell us a little about Asia Pacific Theological Seminary

APTS was founded in 1964 for the purposes of training Asian church leaders to minister effectively in their own contexts. Since most Bible schools were only offering a diploma level education at the time, we began by offering a bachelor’s degree and in time, starting offering masters programs. As the Bible schools were able to upgrade their programs to the four year level, we gradually phased out our bachelor’s degrees and added more masters programs and, eventually, post graduate studies were added. Today, we offer masters degree in various ministerial disciplines and have post graduate programs at the MTh, DMin and PhD levels. We currently have a total of 135 resident and non-resident students representing 28 nations.

3) Are the courses full time, part-time or a mixture of both?

Since most students come from outside the Philippines, they study full time.

4) How do APTS students fund their studies?

We have some scholarship programs. Otherwise, the students must find their own sponsors or financial resources.

5) Does APTS take students from overseas?

Yes. See above.

6) What type of ministry is APTS intended to prepare students for?

Pastors, missionaries and Bible School educators

7) When students leave APTS what kind of ministries / jobs do they go into.

They mainly pastor, teach in a Bible school (or both) or serve as missionaries. Many have gone on to high leadership positions within their denomination or fellowship.

8) What is distinctive about what APTS offers compared with other colleges in and overseas?

We are international, missional and Pentecostal. With one possible exception, we are the only seminary in the Philippines that focuses on all three and one of the few in the entire Asia Pacific Region that do so.

9) Please tell us about the library and other research facilities.

We have an excellent library of over 60,000 resources as well as an archive for church historians. We have an excellent pastoral setting that is conducive to study and reflection.

10) Does APTS offer a distance or on-line learning option.

We offer a few courses online. We also have extension campuses in Samoa, Fiji, Bangkok and one restricted access nation.

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Asia Pacific Theological Seminary publishes the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, which is available for free download on their website.

For more interview with Bible College Faculty from around the globe go here.