History of the Program
On October 22, 1992, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the establishment of the Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity in recognition of the needs of the denomination, the changing face of theological education, and GWU's own longstanding tradition. The School initially offered the Master of Arts in Christian Ministries (M.A.C.M.) as its basic ministerial degree program. Following consultation with the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS), the M.A.C.M. was phased out in favor of the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree. On October 23, 1998, the Board of Trustees renamed the School the M. Christopher White School of Divinity.in honor of the University’s former president. In January 2000, the School of Divinity was granted full accreditation by the ATS; in the spring of 2001, the School was granted preliminary approval to begin a Doctor of Ministry degree (D.Min.). The first D.Min. seminars were conducted in the fall of 2001. The School of Divinity, one of four graduate, professional schools offering graduate degrees within the academic program of Gardner-Webb University, has close ties to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.