One of the great parts about Second Year at BSSM Online is that we had AMTs (Advanced Ministry Trainings), and we got to choose them! In First Year, we were auto-enrolled in just a few of them. This year, we got to experience some of the actual AMTs students sat in on campus!
Most AMTs ran for seven weeks, and we had three sets of them over the course of the school year. We were required to select two AMTs each trimester. Though we didn’t get the opportunity to choose from as many as the on-campus students did (and we didn’t have tracks), we did have a few options. We got to watch live from someone’s laptop as the speaker presented the content to the class in real-time, and we got to ask questions in the chat on Zoom as students in the room asked theirs on a mike. The sound also improved dramatically over the course of the year as the tech team worked out all the kinks of being live in a noisy classroom. (Next year’s students, I’m pretty sure you’ll have it made!)
During the final trimester, some of our AMTs were on demand instead, an option I was all for and opted to take advantage of. The on-demand AMTs lasted six weeks instead of seven. It seems like this may be the norm moving forward.
Our AMTs were divided up into trimesters beginning in October. Here was our schedule for AMTs for the 2021-2022 school year:
Here are the AMTs that were offered for Second Year in the 2021-2022 school year:
During the final trimester, we were required to take one Bible course and one elective. If I remember right, neither of the other trimesters had any stipulations.
We didn’t have any homework the first round, but the Bible classes had mandatory homework starting in the second trimester, and the other AMTs provided optional homework questions that didn’t have to be submitted. By the third trimester, I believe all AMTs had required homework – all of mine did, at least!
I took all of Rich Schmidt’s AMTs (The guy is a genius – he’s the one pictured above since I took so many of his AMTs!), Leading and Activating Others in the Supernatural, Becoming a Whole-Hearted Woman, and Ben Armstrong’s prophetic AMT. I loved the authenticity and transparency of the leaders of the Whole-Hearted Woman class, and Rich Schmidt’s End Times class BLEW MY MIND (and I’m no expert, but I’ve read a fair amount on eschatology, plus the entire Left Behind series and the Left Behind kids’ series 😉). The End Times class is a lot to absorb – they aren’t kidding when they say it’s advanced – but it’s worth your time. It’s supposed to be available to the public at some point on Rich’s website, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone.
I can’t speak for a lot of the AMTs, but I heard good things about each one of them from my classmates (and I’m hoping a few will trade notes with me!). Many of the AMTs were highlights of my year at BSSM, and I would guess future students will only have more to choose from!
Now, if Bethel TV can just add the rest of them as e-courses…😊
Hey! I'm Brianna and I'm a millennial. I'm also a reader, writer, God-lover, introvert, and recovering perfectionist. ☺️ I want to inspire millennials to retain their morality, hope, and faith as they transition into adulthood and full-fledged "adult."
