D.Min., M.Div. Entrants

The Doctor of Ministry for M.Div. Entrants is a 36-credit hour doctoral degree designed for applicants with a M.Div. degree, who are being given advance standing. Students will complete a concentration in Pastoral Leadership. Students will receive analytical, practical, and theological tools to serve as leaders in Christ’s church.

Learning Objectives of the D.Min. degree include:

• Advanced Theological Integration: The D.Min. program gives graduates the ability to engage cultural context with advanced theological acumen and critical thinking.
• In-Depth Contextual Competency: The D.Min. program gives graduates the ability to identify and frame crucial ministry issues.
• Strategic Planning and Implementation: The D.Min. program equips graduates to enhance their impacts as ministerial leaders.
• Personal and Spiritual Maturity: The D.Min. program enables graduates to reinvigorate and deepen vocational call and extend tenure in ministry. D.Min. programs are integrative in that they are focused on spiritual, personal, moral, and ministerial formation.

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:

1. identifying a challenge they face in ministry and situating that challenge in their context,
2. reflecting theologically on that challenge,
3. and designing a new ministry initiative to address that challenge which must then be implemented and assessed.

Partnerships:
As a part of our mission to commit to the development of missional organizations, we have developed partnerships with various ministries and organizations in order to focus the class discussions on their particular context and apply theory to the issues relevant to the partner ministry organizations.

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 three weeks in a year and be able to immediately apply their learning in their current context while earning this doctoral degree.

Admission is intended for those serving in ministry leadership roles and have an M.Div. or equivalent with a minimum 3.0 GPA. They should have served a total of five years in a full-time ministry role or three years after earning their master’s degree. This program is open to those in both marketplace and ministry arenas as long as they are serving in a ministry role. Students are expected to have demonstrated leadership experience and possess proficiency in written and spoken English.

Admissions Requirements:

• Students must possess an M.Div. or an equivalent master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0. 
  • Students with an M.Div. or equivalent master’s degree will be given advance standing of 12 credits and admitted into a 36-hour D.Min. program.
• Minimum of three years of experience in a ministry leadership role after earning the M.Div. degree or a total of five years in ministry leadership.
• Currently involved in an active ministry role.

Application Requirements

1. Application
2. Three references – Pastoral, Academic, and Ministry Peer or Ministry Supervisor
3. Official undergraduate and graduate transcripts
4. Four essays which will evaluate students based on the ATS entry-level competencies for D.Min. students
   1. Religious Autobiography (Competency Evaluated: Personal and Spiritual Formation)
   2. Statement of Experience (Competency Evaluated: Ministerial and Leadership Identity)
   3. Statement of Vocational Calling (Competency Evaluated: Ministerial and Leadership Identity)
   4. 8-10 page writing sample of showing biblical interpretation, theological integration, and contextual analysis (Competencies Evaluated: Theological Integration and Contextual Analysis)

The Doctor of Ministry for M.Div. entrants is a 36-credit hour program. Students applying should have completed a M.Div. or an equivalent master’s degree.