Q: What is the time commitment for preparing for ordination?

A: Realistically, you need to be able to spend about 10 hours each week in reading, writing and ministry assignment.

Q: Do I have to leave home to go to seminary?

A: From 1998-2008 we held a weekly school in Ithaca. Now all reading for Holy Orders is by distance using available technology. We have a substantial database of notes and podcasts from 1998-2008 available for students.

Q: Is the teaching of a high calibre?

A: The primary teacher of the school is the Rt. Rev. Abbot Dr. Andrew Fitz-Gibbon. He has a bachelors degree in business, masters degrees in history and applied theology and a PhD in social ethics. Dr. Fitz-Gibbon has over 19 years pastoral experience and is an associate professor of philosophy at the State University of new York, College at Cortland. in the Philosophy Department at SUNY Cortland. He has been a guest scholar in religion at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England and a visiting scholar at Cornell University.

Q: Is the Lindisfarne Community evangelical?

A: many in the community have evangelical roots, though the community as it has developed is much broader than traditional evangelicalism. We take the Bible seriously, both historically and as a book of faith. Students will engage the Bible at a number of different levels including devotional use, historical and critical study. A glance at the reading list for the school will give you an idea of the kind of studies required.

Q: Do I have to sign a doctrinal statement?

A: No. Our program is designed to help each student think critically about their own faith and to give a reasoned answer for what they believe. In this reagrd there is no "party line."

Q: Do I need to have read theology before attending the school?

A: A working knowledge of the Christain faith is a good idea, but no formal theological training is assumed. The school is designed for the serious Christian who wants to deepen their faith and, perhaps, prepare for ordination.

Q: Do you accept qualifications from other schools?

A: Of course. If students have studied theology formally or have a degree in theology we take that into account when designing a course of study. The route to ordination may be much shorter than four years for those who have studied previously.