Study Options

Degrees and Certificates of TIBI

Texas International Bible Institute offers various degrees and certificates for its students, according to their interests and needs.  These include:

  1. Bachelor of Ministry and Biblical Studies (42 courses, certified by AETH)
  2. Bachelor of Biblical Studies (40 courses, recognized by Texas)
  3. Certificate of Biblical Studies (23 courses)
  4. Certificate of Christian Worker (16 courses)
  5. Certificate of Ministry (12 courses)
  6. Certificate of Pastoral Counseling (5 courses)

 

Bachelor of Ministry and Biblical Studies (certified by AETH)

AETH (the Association for Hispanic Theological Studies) recently certified the Bachelor of Ministry and Biblical Studies degree which TIBI offers. AETH is an agency of the US which certifies programs, institutes, and biblical schools which train leaders and members of Hispanic churches in the US and Puerto Rico.  They collaborated with the Association of Theological Schools, which accredits many theological seminaries of graduate studies, in creating this certification program.

One main advantage of this new certification is that is affirms that our Bachelor of Ministry and Biblical Studies is equivalente to a university-level degree in biblical and ministry studies.  As such, our graduates who achieve this degree are eligible to apply for graduate studies in any seminary of the US or Puerto Rico.  It is an important external affirmation of the value of our program.

The requirements for obtaining this bachelor’s degree certified by AETH are:

  • Possess a high school degree from your country
  • Pass the 42 courses in this curriculum, including studies in Old and New Testament; tools like Hebrew, Greek, Exegesis, Hermeneutics, Homiletics, and Critical Thinking; Church history and biblical history and geography; ministry courses such as small groups, spiritual formation, leadership, Christianity and Culture, and other tools to minister effectively in the local church; and finally, complete a supervised internship in a local church or ministry.

As part of the learning experience, and by the express recommendation of AETH, the students must interact with the professors and other students.  Because of this, of the 42 courses in our curriculum, 29 must be taken live by video conference, while the other 13 may be taken online.

 

Bachelor of Biblical Studies (recognized by Texas)

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has granted TIBI a letter recognizing our right as a school to train our students in a way we see fit for working in our congregations, and to grant degrees based on that.  Although this is not the same as accreditation, our degrees are awarded after completing a rigorous program of study which equips our students for Kingdom service.

These courses may be taken live or online.  In contrast with the degree certified by AETH, a student may take all courses of this degree online.

 

Certificate of Biblical Studies (23 cursos)

For those who cannot or do not choose the Bachelors degrees, but still wish to deepen their biblical study, this certificate gives them knowledge of the biblical languages, exegesis, hermeneutics, and courses over most of the biblical text.

 

Christian worker certificate (16 courses)

This certificate requires less courses, and is for the students who desire a combination of biblical text and ministry, without studying courses dealing with biblical languages, exegesis, or hermeneutics.  It is a good certificate for church members who desire to equip themselves for ministry in the local church.

 

Certificate of Ministry (12 courses)

This certificate focuses on acquiring various skills for ministry in the local church, such as working with small groups, spiritual formation, evangelism, and leadership, among others.

Certificate of Pastoral Counseling (5 courses)

This program focuses on equipping students with the knowledge and skills to deal with various problems that may arise in life, family, or the church.

The professor of the 5 courses offered is Ignacio Bárcenas. He has over 38 years’ experience working in local churches. He has also received his Masters in Counseling and his professional license from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).

These courses are offered at night, one night per week, for a whole year. To receive more information, you can write to Ignacio Bárcenas at publicacioneseif@gmail.com.

To register, complete this form with basic information and return it to Ignacio Bárcenas.

To apply for a scholarship to study full-time, click on the link below.

Formulario para becas – IBIT – 2024

If you’d like to know more about TIBI’s programs, practices, and policies, you may click on the following link:

School catalog 2023-2024

 

STUDY OPTIONS

There are essentially three options for students who would like to receive training in textual study and ministry: live interactive video conferencing, recorded video courses online with Moodle, or taking the same courses from hard drives, flash drives, or DVDs (EBLs).

General student registration form

 

VIDEOCONFERENCING

Most of our classes are offered in a live, interactive format through video conferencing, often connecting with 30-50 sites in one class. We use a cutting-edge technology system called Zoom.

This system increases our capacity, quality, and clarity of our classes, and makes connecting and configuring cheaper and easier.

Notice–All of TIBI’s classes are streamed directly to the world wide web and are visible to the public. The instructor is responsible for the contents of each class. By choosing to take courses with TIBI by using the Zoom system, each user accepts these terms and conditions.

To take Zoom classes you need access to the TIBI network. If you have not registered, please contact Stephen Austin at austin@ibitibi.org. He will help you to follow the necessary steps to access the system.

 

VIDEO ARCHIVES

To see the most recent videos recorded by Zoom from our live class pages, go to any class page and click on the links for the videos.

 

VIDEO COURSES ONLINE

For those who cannot adjust their schedules to take live classes, they can access 41 recorded online video courses, at ibitenlinea.org.

 

 

 

 

FREE COURSES IN OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

If you want to see videos of recorded courses, without the Moodle system, you can go here,  to see the courses on YouTube. (For now, the majority of the courses are in Spanish.)

If you want to take the courses for credit towards our Bachelor’s degree, you still need to do it through our site in www.ibitenlinea.org, and contact Pedro del Pozo, at pedro@ibitenlinea.org.

 

ESCUELAS BÍBLICAS LOCALES

The name in Spanish means “Local Bible Schools.”  We have seen that in a number of countries, internet access is poor, limited, or non-existent.  For potential students in these areas, we have put all our online courses on a small hard drive that can fit in a shirt pocket.  These courses can be facilitated (administered, graded, etc) by a local leader, minister, missionary, or school director.  We have about 16,500 students in Latin America who have studied with us through this method. If you are interested in beginning an EBL, you can write to Silvia Acuña at silvia@ibitenlinea.org.

What you see in the picture is all you need to begin teaching students with this method.

 

THE ZOOM SYSTEM

Each class taken by TIBI students has a page accessible to students in all parts of the world, with information about it, download documents and contact information of the teacher.

The schedule of each class corresponds to Houston, TX time. It is necessary to check the time of your country regarding this time. To see each cycle’s schedule of classes, go to the Current Classes page.

Thanks for your interest. It will be a pleasure to have you as a participant in our system.

 

NOTE: All TIBI classes are transmitted directly to the network and are visible to the public. The Institute is not responsible for the content transmitted, as all responsibility lies with the teacher. All users using the Zoom system on the Institute website are subject to the terms of these terms.