Courses Offered at The Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA) for 2027

The Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA) is an evangelical theological college based at 189 Pine Street in central Pietermaritzburg. It was founded in 1980 as the Evangelical Bible Seminary of Southern Africa (EBSemSA), after several years of consultation from 1974 about the need for degree-level evangelical training in the region. The founding principal was Dr Phil Capp, who led the seminary until the end of 1992, when Dr Moshe Rajuili took over. The name was shortened to ESSA in 1999.

ESSA's mission is to train committed Christian leaders to serve effectively in urban African settings. Its teaching is shaped by three values:
- Evangelical: the Bible is treated as the highest authority
- Holistic: the whole gospel is applied to the whole of life, including social and community issues
- Contextual: students learn to apply their faith in the real places where they minister

The seminary aims to serve people in ministry who cannot move to a residential college or who do not do well with pure distance learning. For this reason its degree is part-time and built around a block-release model that fits around work and church responsibilities.

Accreditation history: ESSA was accredited by ACTEA and later offered a BTh Honours through a local university between 2004 and 2011. Its Bachelor of Theology was accredited by the Council on Higher Education in November 2017, and the seminary was registered by the Department of Higher Education and Training as a private higher education institution in June 2019.

What you can study:
- Bachelor of Theology (BTh), NQF level 7, 384 credits, part-time over at least four years

How the teaching works: the year has five academic blocks of nine weeks each. Students come to the Pietermaritzburg campus in weeks 3 and 7 of every block for contact sessions and work remotely in between, using the Moodle online learning system. Teaching is in English. Alongside academic modules, students keep ministry experience journals that link class learning to their own church or community work.

Community and partnerships: ESSA has been part of the Pietermaritzburg Cluster of Theological Institutions since 1994, which gives students access to library resources shared among several theological schools in the city. The seminary also runs its own library and a newsletter called Steps of Faith.

Fees (2026): tuition is charged per credit at R220, which works out to R2 200 for each 10-credit module and about R85 980 for the whole degree. There is also a non-refundable application fee of R300 and a yearly utilities fee of R300. Because fees are paid per module, students can spread the cost over the years they study.

How to apply: ESSA does not publish an online application portal. Prospective students should use the contact form on the website (choosing the option to be contacted about applying), phone +27 33 394 1679 or email info@essa.ac.za. The office is open Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 17:00.