Online learning & InterTerm Courses

Flexible options to fit your life and advance your knowledge

If you hold a full-time job, can’t move, or are discerning whether or not seminary is right for you, our online classes and interterms are a flexible option.

Online Courses

The North American Lutheran Seminary network offers a full array of online courses, through TSM, to achieve a Diploma or Certificate in Lutheran Studies.

What to Expect

The Office of Online Education offers a range of courses on a rotating basis each Fall, Spring, and Summer. The courses mirror the residential courses: semester-long classes, weekly reading and assignments, regular interaction with the faculty and class members, and an average of 8–12 hours of study, per week, per course.

The coursework is largely asynchronous—students are not required to be online at the same time. However, there are some synchronous components in some courses (chat sessions, conference calls or web-conferencing). Participation in these discussions, combined with the other assignments, demands an extensive amount of reading and writing.

Learn More about Online Education at the Seminary Center
  • Motivation, self discipline and the ability to engage with others in thoughtful, challenging, Christian dialogue.
  • A schedule that permits 8 to 12 hours per week of reading, studying, and writing per course.
  • Willingness to engage in an extensive amount of reading and writing.
  • Basic skills in typing, emailing, and creating/attaching electronic files.

The Master of Divinity program requires a residency component of two consecutive semesters at the NALS seminary center in Ambridge, PA. This requirement fulfills the spiritual formation component of a NALS seminary education. The Master of Arts in Religion, in any of its concentrations, can be completed entirely online, or through a combination of online and residential study.  The Diploma in Lutheran Studies is, likewise, available online.  Residential students may also augment their coursework through online study.

 Interterm Intensive Courses

Every June the NALS offers intensive courses (a semester-long class covered in one or two weeks) on the campus of the Seminary Center in Ambridge, PA. These intensive classes enable our distance students to join our residential students in required coursework on campus.

Financial Assistance

Financial assistance for Online Education at the NALS is available through the NALC to those seminarians entranced into NALC Candidacy. To learn more visit the NALC Candidacy web page here.

Start Your Journey

Discover how the NALS network can help you pursue your calling to ministry. Fill out our Start Your Journey form to learn more about how the NALS is forming pastors and leaders for the North American Lutheran Church today!

Start Your Journey today Apply