Licentiate in Theology
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The Licentiate in Theology or the Licence in Theology (LTh is the usual abbreviation) is a theological qualification commonly awarded for ordinands and laymen studying theology in the United Kingdom,Malta, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The academic rank varies from undergraduate degree to masters degree.
At Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden the programme for a licentiate degree is equivalent to a total of two years of full-time study for those who have been admitted for doctoral studies. A person who has a doctoral position normally teaches on the undergraduate programmes, equivalent to a maximum of 20% of the working time. It then ought to be possible for a licentiate degree to be taken within 2.5 years. [1]
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[edit] United Kingdom
The University of Wales, Lampeter LTh, introduced in 1940, was intended for graduate ordinands, and is a one year full-time, or two years part-time qualification. The University of St Andrews offered the LTh (Licence in Theology), a three-year course open to non-graduates. A three-year LTh is available from the University of Edinburgh.
[edit] Canada
In Canada, a four-year LTh is offered by Emmanuel College, Toronto
[edit] Australia
In Australia in former years, theological colleges that were not associated with Universities offered programmes which led to the award of a Licentiate in Theology, abbreviated ThL. For many years the ThL was a prerequisite to ordination as an Anglican priest, however nowadays the ThL is a "non award" course: i.e., it is not recognised by other institutions for entry to higher degrees, and persons wishing to be ordained usually complete a Bachelor of Theology at an accredited university, to enable them to later take an advanced degree if desired.
[edit] New Zealand
In New Zealand the LTh is offered by the Ecumenical Institute for Distance Theological Studies and was the standard avenue to ordination in the Anglican Church; it remains the standard for part-time distance ordinands.
A qualification similar to the LTh is the two-year postgraduate Licentiate of Sacred Theology (STL), available from the Milltown Institute, Ireland.
