With the education system:
The seminary became part of the public higher education system of Peru in 1985 when it was recognized by the decree 48-85-ED, signed by President Belaunde, as a private college of higher theological education. Some of the seminary's programs are recognized officially by this law, and the seminary is authorized to award professional degrees in theology in the name of the Peruvian nation. The seminary is currently attempting to improve the educational options it offers and also to improve its relations with other Peruvian higher educational institutions.
Official status allows the universities to admit seminary graduates to a second career related to their previous studies. The seminary degree is also recognized by other Andean countries under the treaty "Andres Bello".
With other seminaries and faculties:
Lima Evangelical Seminary establishes its relations with other seminaries and faculties within the following framework:
- The seminary is organized as an independent theological faculty, within the interconfessional evangelical framework established by its statutes, purpose, aims, basis of faith, and general rules.
- The seminary cultivates academic excellence, serious and free reflection within the agreed evangelical interconfessional framework, the training of its teaching staff and students, and the expression and defence of its distinctive evangelical position.
- As an independent faculty, the seminary establishes relations with other seminaries and institutions by means of bi-lateral agreements.
- The seminary is an active member of "The Evangelical Association for Theological Education in Latin America" (AETAL). It is also a member of the "Latin American Association of Theological Education Institutions" (ALIET).
With the churches:
The seminary maintains an open invitation to the different evangelical denominations and churches to participate in its programs. In 1991 more than half of the students were members of the churches with which the founders worked. A decade later, students from these churches made up just under one third of the total student body. Today's students belong to more than twenty different churches and denominations and all of the students in the degree program complete their ministerial practice requirements in their own churches.
There is also diversity in the denominational affiliations of the seminary authorities and teaching staff. The nineteen professors currently on the staff are from seven different denominations, and the four members of the Board of Directors attend churches of four different denominations.
The seminary provides a genuine interdenominational environment for its educational work at all levels, and especially for the students. The seminary does not attempt to be an exclusively academic institution, but rather promotes as much as possible, close links of active participation with related congregations in a common task.
With the supporting missions:
Since it began, the seminary has enjoyed the committed support of international evangelical missions. These missions belong to churches and para-church organizations in several countries belonging to different evangelical traditions.
The missions co-operate by donating funds, and in some cases, by lending teaching staff to the seminary. Although some of the missions have a representative on the Board of Directors, the seminary has its own norms and is completely autonomous with respect to the missions. The decisions of the board and faculty are subject to statutes and rules that all of their members are bound to respect. The application of these norms down through the years has resulted in the common agreement necessary to the harmonious development of the seminary's educational task. |
