TouchPoint Theological Education is a low-residency learning format that provides students with the connection of community and collegiality even while they spend most of their time in seminary in distant locations.  Meadville Lombard students travel to Chicago for week-long intensive classes in January, March and July. These intensive classes require that reading and some assignments are completed prior to the face-to-face time in Chicago. In many classes, students also have follow-up work.

When not in Chicago, students stay connected to each other and to the faculty through our electronic classroom, by phone and by email. Our students are remarkable in the way they create community across the continent and globe through social networking sites and an electronic chat list.
Meadveille Lombard offers both its Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees through TouchPoint Education.

Students in our Master of Divinity degree program are also enrolled in our Signature Courses--year-long, multi-unit courses dependent on site work in community and congregational settings. While enrolled in these courses, students are involved in weekly work that requires reflection and contact with other students in the class, with the faculty, and with their Teaching Pastors.

TouchPoint Theological Education: Stay connected to your community while learning in ours.

How does TouchPoint work?

Students are required to come to Chicago for the following events:

First-year orientation in September that includes an orientation to and beginnings of the required first year Signature Course, the Community Studies Seminar.

The January Learning Convocation during the first week of January each year that they are enrolled in a Signature Course.

Some required courses will only be offered in the intensive format during January, so students in the TouchPoint program will also need to plan to take academic classes then. We offer several courses over three full weeks, as well as some half-unit weekend courses.

Students who plan to complete the degree program in three years should also plan on taking academic courses in Chicago during July, when another range of intensive, week-long courses are offered.  Learn more about the MDiv Cirriculum.

For more information about our program, contact Assistant Director for Recruitment and Communications, Justine Urbikas. You can also reach her by telephone at 773.256.3000 x673.