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Liberty University
Ronald Sanders
Class of 2011, graduate of theology certificate
Currently pursuing bachelor’s of science in religion
Liberty University
When it came time to pursue a new direction in life, Ronald Sanders was not quite sure what path he should take. Though he determined that going back to school was going to be the best move for him, he quickly ruled out the idea of moving his family to pursue an education at a traditional brick-and-mortar university. Also, Sanders had to keep his day job as an industrial crane operator for Precision Strip Inc. in Talladega, Ala., to support his family. Traditional classroom education simply was not a feasible option. This led Sanders to recognize the advantages of pursing an online education. After some research and prayerful consideration, Sanders knew he had found the right fit in Liberty University Online. For Sanders, he knew that his education was more than just the quality of learning — it was a calling.
“The Lord led me to Liberty Online,” Sanders said. “I wasn’t able to sell my home [to] attend school, so I started reaching out to online and correspondence schools.” Sanders came across Liberty University Online because of its ties to founder Jerry Falwell. Falwell, an immensely successful Baptist minister who started Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., in 1956, went on to start Liberty in 1971. Falwell’s goal was to create a Christian environment for young evangelicals to pursue a quality, accredited education. With this in mind, Sanders began speaking with an enrollment counselor and was enrolled to begin classes the following fall.
Fast forward two years, and Sanders has completed his Graduate of Theology Certificate from Liberty and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in religion. He hopes to eventually earn a Master of Divinity and a doctoral degree. Once he has those completed, he intends to pursue a career in Christian ministry.
“The knowledge I have learned has helped establish me in this field,” Sanders said about the courses he has completed. “I am better equipped to give an answer for the reasons for Christian faith, and I am able to better answer questions related to the Bible and what it teaches. People tend to come to me more with prayer requests and questions related to the Christian faith and the Bible.”
Additionally, Sanders’ education has helped him explore ministry possibilities with his local congregation.
“Some of the courses require videotaping and having outside proctors evaluate you,” Sanders said, “and I have already talked to [my] church about setting up the time to teach a class and have some of the members evaluate my teaching.”
While Sanders hopes to uses his degree to teach theology or apologetics (the defense of the Christian faith), he understands that he still has plenty of education left to complete before he’ll be able to seek a full-time position in the church. With a number diverse ministry opportunities available, he remains open to the fact that anything can happen.
“I would really like to go wherever God leads me and opens up a door for ministry,” Sanders said. “I would like to be behind the pulpit, expositing God’s word, evangelizing the world for Christ, or even in [the] classroom teaching the next generation of Christ’s followers. Really, anything related to the truths of the Bible and how to apply them to our lives today would be great.”
Sanders described Liberty’s program as intense, stimulating, and challenging. For students stepping into online education through Liberty, he recommended that they be prepared for a full load of class work and highlighted the fact that Liberty makes the enrollment process easy. “I wish I had known how great online learning was sooner,” Sanders said.
As far as passing down words of wisdom to those considering an online education, Sanders has a simple approach. “It is what you make out of it,” Sanders said. “Like anything else, you are going to get back what you put in to it.”
