Doctor of Divinity (D.Div.) Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) Doctor of Sacred Music (D.S.M.)

A NEW SPIRITUAL COUNSELING CAREER for you in 2018!

Dr. Lauri, one of our Doctor of Divinity alumni, appeared on Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, CNN, The View, giving dream interpretation as spiritual counseling.

Spiritual Counseling Degree via Distance Learning Get credit for your life experience and current work in spirituality. Earn a distance learning home study Doctorate degree to immediately expand your horizons with new seminary credentials enabling you to offer spiritual counseling and/or teach others. Legally attach Dr. to your name, enhance your pastoral counseling or spiritual healing practice with this respected religious degree. You decide on your focus, based on your spirituality or religious preference. When you receive a degree, you gain leverage in the field yes, but more importantly you inspire confidence in your clients, the spiritual seekers who come to you for guidance and enrichment.

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Theology

Doctor of Ministry

Our Ph.D. degree programs are separate from the D.Div. and Th.D. programs above. PhD in Religion, Religious Studies, Metaphysics, PhD in Pastoral Counseling, etc available

Click here for information on our Bachelors and Masters Degree Programs in Religion, Theology and Metaphysics

Requirements for a Doctorate Degree Ordination is free to doctoral applicants. You must be (or become) ordained clergy, either an ordained minister, rabbi, pastor, etc. in order to receive a religious doctorate degree from the Seminary. You may be previously ordained by any other recognized church or seminary. (The ordination fee is completely waived if you are applying for a Doctorate Degree at the same time. Just choose your minister title when filling out the Doctorate Degree Application) You must write a 4000 word thesis/dissertation on any spiritual topic that appeals to you. Your paper may be emailed ( seminary@northernway.org ) to us or snail-mailed. Don't stress over the thesis paper. Just write about something you love and it will flow out of you. Many of our alumni (at least a dozen) have turned their thesis papers into books by simply expanding them into a larger document after graduation. So remind yourself as you're writing, that you are authoring that book you always wanted to write! You must write a one to three page spiritual history, telling the story of religion and spirituality in your life from your childhood to the present. Send to the Seminary at seminary@northernway.org. Complete the Doctorate Degree Application clicking here Pay the one-time only tuition fee of $600 (you will be directed to payment page after submitting the application above)

We are not accredited by any state agency because we choose not to be. See the Seminary's FAQ page for the reasons why. Since we grant only religious degrees, the Seminary can remain free of entanglements with government agencies thanks to the religious exemption and the Separation of Church & State. We have legal degree granting authority to confer religious degrees and our alumni are in all 50 states and many countries of the world. The Seminary must continue to meet the requirements for religious exemption.

Collecting written work from you is one of several factors making the religious Degree legal and legitimate, as opposed to being merely honorary. We have been a religious degree-granting institution since 1989, and began ordaining ministers even earlier, in 1987. We went online in 1999 to make the application process and lesson delivery easier.  Our degrees are bonafide legitimate religious Doctorate, Masters or Bachelor Degrees because we are a recognized organization that exists not just on the Internet, but in the brick and mortar realm. And because we require the written work listed above, require an application screening process, give spiritual training courses where needed, offer transcripts, and keep a real hard-copy file of each and every graduate and clergymember. We can issue transcripts (for a transcript fee and only after you complete certain online courses), offer references and letters of recommendation whenever you need them -- for the rest of your life*.  

We have over 400 spiritual training lessons online which are free to doctoral candidates who pay the one-time tuition fee ($600). You may receive credit for your life and field experience, or take the courses depending on your experience.

You receive a legal religious doctorate degree diploma with beautiful gold raised seal, very suitable for framing.  The Seminary's diplomas have been complimented by attorneys and medical doctors who say our diplomas look better than their Juris Doctor or Medical School diplomas.  Included at no extra charge is a wallet ID card showing your credential status, and of course our lifetime reference service*.  You also become part of our network with all its benefits, such as linking with others, and free listing in our website's Practitioners Directory.

Not fake degrees, not a diploma mill
The Internet has brought about vast changes to correspondence schools, which historically were the only "distance learning" institutions available. An unfortunate by-product of the internet revolution has been the appearance of hundreds of phony diploma mills pretending to be schools.  They take your money and print you out a worthless piece of paper they call a "diploma".  In the realm of public perception, legitimate schools and religious degree-granting institutions like ours have sometimes been improperly lumped in with the diploma mills. The Esoteric Theological Seminary is unaccredited yes, (because no Christian accrediting agencies approve of our theology, see our FAQ for more about this), but we are exempt from accrediting because we are a bonafide non-profit religious organization with 501c3 status. We are certainly not illegal, nor issuing phony degrees.

Furthermore, unlike diploma mills, we offer our graduates and ministers the benefits one normally expects to find in a higher education setting. Many are still very active with the Seminary and serve in such capacities as members of the Board of Directors, Ordaining Council, regional senior ministers, advisors to the staff and faculty, and more. We further offer the networking and connections normally associated with a stone and mortar seminary  through our active e-groups and alumni services.

One-time only tuition cost to you:
Total tuition for a Doctorate Degree is $600. Ordination as a clergy member is free with a degree. We have never raised our tuition prices since 1989 when the Seminary first offered the Doctor of Divinity and Doctor of Theology.
(If you want two Doctorate Degrees, the second is half-tuition of only $300)

If you have a question, feel free to ask.  And be sure to check out our FAQ page to see what others have asked.

On CNN, Dr. Lauri the "Dream Interpretation Lady" appeared with Sanjay Gupta.  Watch the five minute clip here.  Lauri Quinn Loewenberg received her Doctor of Divinity degree from the Esoteric Theological Seminary and later used her minister ordination to perform her sister's wedding in Tennessee. Dr. Lauri has made several TV appearances: Dr. Oz, ABC's The View, CNN with Anderson Cooper 360, The Today Show, and Good Morning America (ABC), pictured right. She hosts a live blogtalk radio show.