Tomorrow I officially graduate from Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry as a First-Year student! š I know everybody says this, but the year has flown by faster than I thought was possible. It feels like I was just logging in for my first class in September, anxious and unsure about what to expect, and now itās already coming to an end! Iām so grateful for this experience and everything I learned this year, but Iām sad to see this year come to a close. Iāll miss it.
Last year when I was researching BSSM and planning to attend, I read many former studentsā blog posts to get an idea of what school would be like. Many of the things I read about proved to be exactly the way other students described. Other things were completely different, especially since I was a part of the first-ever online class. (The first intentional online class, that is! On-campus students were also online for a good chunk of the past year, due to COVID restrictions. We each had our own sessions, though, regardless of whether the on-campus students were physically on campus or meeting online.)
I had heard that on-campus students listened to Leslie Crandall, Mark Brookes, Bill Johnson, and Kris Vallotton a lot. Online, we did get to watch several of Bill Johnsonās and Kris Vallottonās messages this year, but we only heard Leslie Crandall and Mark Brookes teach once or twice each. We also had Masterclasses with different speakers and topics each week, so we got to hear from a variety of speakers all year long, which I think is a bit different from what on-campus students experience.
Another advantage of the online school was that many of our speakers did Q&A sessions and allowed us to ask questions or submit them in the chat bar on Zoom. Oftentimes, there were less than 100 students on these calls (versus 1,000+ on campus), so these sessions were a lot more interactive and there was a much greater chance of each personās question getting answered.
What we did miss out on, for the most part, were the AMTs (Advanced Ministry Trainings). We had two of them toward the end of the year, but we didnāt get to choose which ones like students on campus get to. These classes each last a few weeks and are on specific topics, many of which I wouldāve loved to learn more about! However, I did really enjoy the Masterclasses we got to watch.
Of course, things are subject to change as the BSSM Online program grows, but I wanted to share the list of speakers we had this year to give future students an idea of what school might look like online. Many of the speakers led multiple classes; others led one session or were part of a panel.
Without further ado, here were the speakers we had for 2020-2021:
If a lot of these people are unfamiliar to you, they probably were to me, too! Youāll learn many of their names quickly. š
Itās been a privilege to hear from each one of these speakers this year. In fact, I liked them so much, I now have a pile of books to read with many of their names on them (and Iāve already plowed my way through several)! Have you read any of these speakersā books? Which ones are must-reads?
Hey! I'm Brianna and I'm a millennial. I'm also a reader, writer, God-lover, introvert, and recovering perfectionist. āŗļø I want to inspire millennials to retain their morality, hope, and faith as they transition into adulthood and full-fledged "adult."
