The Doctor of Ministry is for seasoned ministry and church leaders who want to deepen their faith, grow in wisdom, and develop as thought leaders and skilled practitioners for long-term fruitfulness in ministry. The D.Min. brings together biblical and theological scholarship, theological integration, reflective practice, ministry skills, and spiritual maturity.
The Wheaton D.Min. program is open to students with an M.Div. or a master’s degree in Bible, theology, or a ministry-related field.
The Doctor of Ministry at Wheaton College is an advanced ministry leadership degree that will equip students as academically grounded, spiritually maturing, and practically skilled leaders who serve Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. This doctoral program is designed to be academically rigorous, focused on contextually relevant ministry praxis, and will continue the Litfin Divinity School's ethos of developing spiritually formed leaders who will minister in multicultural environments.
Learning Objectives of the D.Min. degree include:
- Advanced Theological Integration: Graduating D.Min students will be able to engage cultural contexts with advanced theological acumen and critical thinking by developing theological frameworks that inform, underpin, and reshape practical ministry questions and strategies.
- In-Depth Contextual Competency: Graduating D.Min students will be able to identify, frame, and respond to crucial ministry issues in a diverse world through research and writing that integrates multiple disciplines.
- Strategic Planning and Implementation: Graduating D.Min students will become more effective and impactful leaders in ministry by developing and assessing ministry practices that response to needs identified within a specific ministry context.
- Personal and Spiritual Maturity: Graduating D.Min students will grow in their spiritual, personal, moral, and ministerial formation with a view to reinvigorating and deepening their vocational call and extending their tenure in ministry by adopting and strengthening formation practices related to self, community, and ministry.
As part of this D.Min. program, all students are required to complete a doctoral project, which serves as the capstone of the D.Min. program. It is an opportunity for students to connect knowledge gained from their coursework with the concrete realities of their ministries:
- Identifying a challenge they face in ministry and situating that challenge in their context
- Reflecting theologically on that challenge
- Designing a new ministry initiative to address that challenge which must then be implemented and assessed
Flexible Learning Format:
Most students will continue to serve in their current ministry roles while completing the program part-time. While most of the courses will be delivered as one-week intensives, some courses may be offered in an online format at the discretion of the Program Director. This is to provide students the opportunity to come to campus just two weeks in a year and be able to immediately apply their learning in their current context while earning this doctoral degree.
Students applying to the Doctor of Ministry degree program must possess an M.Div., a theological or ministry-related master's degree, or an equivalent master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0; have a minimum of three years of experience in a ministry leadership role after earning the M.Div. or theological or ministry-related master’s degree or a total of five years in a ministry leadership; must be currently involved in an active ministry role; and possess proficiency in written and spoken English.