JETS Licensing

JETS Licensing by the Jordanian Government

JETS operates with three official licensing documents by the Jordanian government: (1) Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary; (2) JETS Translation House; (3) JETS Publishing and Distribution House. These three operate according to the stipulations indicated in its constitution that is approved by the Ministry of Culture.

The Licensing of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary

JETS founding and launching of operations was in 1991 under the auspices of the Jordanian churches. After the affirmation of the Ministry of Higher Education that Christian theological education was outside its scope of specialties, and under the direction of the Jordanian Lawyers’ Syndicate and government officials, JETS was licensed with the Ministry of Culture on March 23, 1995. On March 10, 2005, the JETS constitution was amended with the approval of the Ministry of Culture to add the phrase “theological seminary” to its Arabic name. Then on April 4, 2005, the Ministry of Culture approved the English name “Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary” with its acronym being “JETS.”

The Licensing of the JETS Translation House

JETS was given license to two houses under its name. The first was the “JETS Translation House” on July 6, 2003 with the Ministry of Information.

The Licensing of the JETS Publishing and Distribution House

JETS second house under JETS is the “JETS Publishing and Distribution House” on July 8, 2003 with the Ministry of Information.

Both houses were joined under the ownership of JETS with the name of “JETS Publishing, Distribution and Translation House” with the Ministry of Commerce.

The Goals and Activities According to the Constitution with the Ministry of Culture

Articles 4 and 5 of the JETS Constitution specify the goals and activities of JETS as follows:

Article 4 of the Constitution: Goals. The goals of the Seminary include the following:

1. The Seminary does not have any political, provincial, factional, tribal or racial aims.
2. The Seminary does not seek any financial profit.
3. The Seminary goals include the following:
   1. To provide a high level of Christian theological education that is based on ecclesiastical and international standards for theological studies meeting special accreditation standards for these studies, with the purpose of equipping pastors, ministers and spiritual leaders for churches.
   2. To help in meeting the needs of churches in Christian education programs that suit our countries' development culturally and socially, and in congruence with our eastern Arabic traditions.
   3. To help in providing the context for cultural, intellectual and scientific cooperation in our community stemming from the spirit of love and peace heralded by the Christian religion.
   4. To promote the atmosphere of mutual well-being between the followers of different religions as well as interfaith dialogue.

Article 5 of the Constitution: Activities. To achieve the above goals, the Seminary exercises the following activities:

1. The offering theological education and training in specialized church ministries such as pastoral, biblical teaching, research, writing, Christian Education, social development, administration, media, counseling, child and family care, music and church worship, archeology and biblical tourism, biblical languages, living languages, and others.
2. The conducting of seminars, courses, sessions, and lectures that meet the needs of churches, and adopting projects that serve these churches.
3. The engagement in writing, publishing and adopting books and literature related to Christian education, producing audio-visual tools and teaching materials, presenting lectures and seminars, and holding other activities that help in achieving the Seminary’s goals.
4. The cooperation with official government offices and ministries such as the Ministries of Culture, Social Development, Media, Education, and Higher Education; and working also with the schools and institutions that provide academic, cultural, media and social services with the purpose of serving the Seminary’s goals.
5. The participation in research, conferences, assemblies and scientific seminars that are related to the Seminary’s goals inside and outside Jordan.
6. The granting of theological certificates according to the level of the students’ achievements.
7. The exercise of all the activities that help in achieving the Seminary’s goals.