Two Major Asian Accreditation Agencies Approve Taiwan's Methodist Graduate School of Theology
The Methodist Graduate School of Theology (MGST) in Taipei received accreditation from the top two accreditation organizations in Asia. Asia Theological Association (ATA) and the Association for Theological Education in Southeast Asia (ATESEA).
In its five years of operations, the MGST has been widely accepted around the world for having one of the finest pastoral counseling programs in Asia. The program has been so successful that MGST now offers it in English so that students outside of the Taiwan, Hong Kong, China area can benefit from taking the course. In addition, MGST is an active participant in the Taiwan Association of Pastoral Counselors, giving the school the necessary experience and expertise in creating an effective pastoral counseling program.
Active participation, Dai says, is the only way for the school to maintain its pastoral counseling status. In Taiwan, professional counselors must hold government licenses. Taiwan’s license agencies do not accept theological seminary training as a qualification for attaining the license, but only recognize education from government-approved schools. Being under a pastoral counseling association, the school will allow graduates a better option in pursuing ministry to become a pastoral counselor.
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"The ATA has accepted this school as a full member,” MGST President Dai Chun-nan reported to the Taiwan Church news. “A month ago, a team conducted an evaluation and were satisfied with what they found. They have accredited our Ph.D, D.Min., M.Th., M.Div., Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling, Master of Biblical Studies and other degree programs. We just received the formal letter of accreditation.” The ATA also accredits three other schools in Taiwan – Sheng-kuang, Chung-tai and China Evangelical.
As for AESEA approval, Dai says, the school has only received notification of acceptance through informal channels. The school so far is awaiting a formal letter from the accreditation agency. ATESEA has in the past accredited four theological schools belonging to the Baptist denomination.
