Distance Learning Master's Program in Ecumenical Studies

The Distance Learning Master's Degree Program in Ecumenical Studies (DLPES) at the Institute of Ecumenical Studies is the first and only distance program offered in Ecumenical Studies in the world. This innovative program gives students throughout the world the opportunity to study the depth and diversity of contemporary ecumenism under the guidance of a world-class teaching faculty. Our program is ideal for the independent, motivated student who wants to study ecumenism through reading-and writing-intensive courses, and to participate in an international ecumenical network of students and scholars of ecumenism.

Our program offers foundational courses, including introductory courses in Christian theological traditions, ecumenical theology, ecclesiology, and history. In addition to these foundational courses, electives are offered throughout the academic year, providing students with the opportunity to study particular aspects of historical or contemporary ecumenism according to their interests. Students must successfully complete fifteen courses within the program to be eligible for the Master's degree of Ecumenical Studies. Upon successful completion of these fifteen required courses, degree-seeking students may devote one academic semester to completing a Master's thesis under the supervision of a member of the DLPES faculty. In addition to their coursework, students of the program report on visits to churches of various confessions, thus incorporating their course work into observational practice.

DLMPES gives also students a possibility to register for individual class or classes of the program without seeking the Master's degree.

Why Ecumenism?

A multitude of voices, coming from all Christian traditions, speak to the desperate need for unity and union among the people of God.

It is best to let the voices speak for themselves:

His Holiness Pope John Paul II:
“The commitment to ecumenism is of primary importance for the Christian. [...] Jesus prayed at the Last Supper for the unity of his Disciples, with heartfelt intensity: 'as you, Father are in me, and I in you, I pray that they may be [one] in us, that the world may believe that you sent me' (Jn 17:21)”

Father John Meyendorff, Orthodox intellectual and former Dean of St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary (1926-1992):
"Why then participate [in ecumenism]? The answer to this question is simple: the mission of the Church requires it. As Orthodox we have no right to ignore the world around us; this world requires our presence and our voice wherever it can be heard, precisely because our message is unique and because the Church is the guardian of a universal Truth.” (Picture: old.svots.edu)

Dietrich Bonhoeffoer (1906-1945):
“Who will call us to peace so that the world will hear, will have to hear, so that all peoples may rejoice...? Only the one great ecumenical council of the holy church of Christ over all the world can speak out so that the world, though it gnash its, teeth, will have to hear...” (Picture: frenzeysbuecherbord.de)