A Momentous Year for EuNC-Romania

In just a few days, a new academic year will begin for European Nazarene College (EuNC). As this new year begins, let's look back over the past 12 months, to see all the amazing things that God has allowed us to do in EuNC's Romania Learning Centre (LC) since this time last year.

New Personnel

In the summer of 2016, the Learning Centre was left without a coordinator when Michael and Tamara Hudson left Romania. Following a year of transition, Cezi Glendenning stepped in to serve as Romania LC coordinator last autumn. Cezi, an EuNC graduate, serves as Nazarene missionary in Hungary, with her husband and their two sons. 

In addition to his previous roles as teacher and LC librarian, Jonathan Phillips now serves as on-site LC administrator and assistant for visiting teachers. 

Dr. Roberta Bustin continues to serve as teacher and mentor.

In August 2017, the Herndon family moved to Romania. Joshua Herndon previously served as the Spain LC coordinator and teacher for EuNC. Although Josh's primary role will be in district leadership, he will be teaching theological education courses as well. In fact, in just a few weeks, he will be teaching "Vocation and Personal Ministry."

Dr. Pavel Chirițescu, a Romanian pastor/educator in the Brethren Church with degrees from Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, England, has agreed to teach courses for the Romania LC. He taught courses for EuNC in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He will be teaching courses in Church History this autumn and winter.

Other Developments
1. Accreditation. EuNC courses offered in the Romania LC are now accredited by the European Council for Theological Education. In the past, EuNC courses offered in Romania were recognized only towards ordination in the Church of the Nazarene, but now the academic credits earned can be transferred to other educational institutions where students can continue their studies.

2. Collaboration with the Central Europe Field Board of Ministry. In the fall of 2017, the Phase 1 Districts and Pioneer Areas of the Church of the Nazarene on the Central Europe Field came together to form a single united Board of Ministry to help in the area of ministerial preparation. One of the early topics of discussion was what we can do to prepare men and women who have a call to ministry, but who lack the educational requirements to take university-level courses at EuNC. After a series of meetings, the Board of Ministry is now working closely with EuNC to adapt coursework for those students so they can be prepared for ministry. Although these courses will not be offered for academic credit and the students will not earn a degree from EuNC, they will fulfill the educational requirements for ordination in the Church of the Nazarene.

3. Library Development. This year we have added nearly 200 books to the Romania LC libraries, bringing our total to just over 1,100. Last fall, students participated in an orientation to the library, which included how to use the online database and how to find books using the Dewey Decimal System. 

4. Learning Centre Administration. Over the past year, we have completed several important administrative tasks for the Romania LC including the translation and printing of the current Academic Catalogue, beginning to update the Learning Centre webpage (www.eunc.edu/romania), translating admission and student orientation documents, and clarifying various LC policies. But perhaps the most significant accomplishment is that we have reexamined all students' academic records and compared them to EuNC graduation requirements and Nazarene ordination requirements. This has allowed us to create a calendar of courses to be offered over the next 4 years. If all goes according to plan, we will start to see students graduate with the "Certificate in Spiritual Formation" next year and with the "Diploma in Christian Ministry" in 2021. Finally, we anticipate that 6 Romanians will have completed the educational requirements for ordinations by the fall of 2021!

New Students

We have 2 new students that have begun taking courses this year. One of these students is taking courses for academic credit. The other is enrolled in the new track recognized by the Board of Ministry for ordination.

In total, 13 students have taken or audited courses this year at the Romania Learning Centre.

Courses
The direct impact of all of these developments for the students is that during this academic year, we were able to offer 5 courses and 2 practicums. This is the highest number of courses offered within a single year in Romania since the 1999-2000 academic year!

The courses we offered this year:

Church Leadership - Fall 2017 - taught by Jon Scott
Practicum I - Fall 2017 - supervised by Jonathan Phillips & Roberta Bustin
Introduction to the Old Testament - Winter 2018 - taught by Jonathan Phillips
Faith Development in the Local Congregation - Winter 2018 - taught by Roberta Bustin
Christian Doctrines 2 - Spring 2018 - taught by Olga Druzhinina
Practicum II - Summer 2018 - supervised by Jonathan Phillips & Roberta Bustin
Intercultural Missions - Summer 2018 - taught by Teanna Sunberg

What's Next?
As we begin the new academic year, we ask your your prayers.

• Please pray that the momentum from this past academic year will continue in the 2018-19 academic year. We have a full schedule of courses lined up for this next year, which will include "Vocation and Personal Ministry," "Church History I & II," "Language and Written Expression," and "Foundations for Biblical Studies." We will also be offering the Romania LC's first fully-online course: EuNC Orientation (for new students), as well as mentoring, practicum, and internship credits.
• Pray for our current students, who must balance their studies with local church ministry, jobs, and families.
• Pray for our future students, both for those who will come from other Wesleyan-holiness churches to study at EuNC to be equipped for ministry in their respective churches, and also for those Romanian men and women who have not yet responded to God's call to ministry.