The Doctor of Ministry is an advanced professional degree that focuses upon primary professional training and upon subsequent on the-job learning. It is intended to help the candidate shape his or her own ministry specialty. The ministry specialty is an area of professional concern in which increased competence is desired –- defined and articulated by the candidate, emerging from his or her day-to-day practice of ministry, eventually deepened by systematic study and reflection, and finally, analyzed in a carefully executed research project. In the development of the ministry specialty and its subsequent study, the minister’s community and context of ministry are taken seriously.

Because the Doctor of Ministry is an advanced professional degree in ministry, it is for clergy and Christian workers who wish to continue their professional education.

The Doctor of Ministry degree focuses on two types of knowledge. One is the articulation of a ministry specialty which integrates one or more disciplines of theological study with the Doctor of Ministry student’s ministerial activity. For example, a ministry specialty may relate biblical studies and liturgics to preaching or systematic theology to pastoral counseling, church history and the arts to educational ministry, or Christian ethics to advocacy for social justice.

The second type of knowledge is the development of skills of continuing professional education, i.e., learning how to learn more from the practice of ministry and reflection upon that practice. The four skills of continuing professional education are:

1. Identifying issues of ministry for study;
2. Selecting learning resources appropriate to the issues;
3. Translating what has been learned through study into professional practice; and
4. Forming the investigation process into a document that will be useful in ministry.

The first two skills are given special attention during the admission and coursework phases of the program; the last two skills surface in order as the program proceeds, each of them is latent at every point. It is the management of these skills which reveal the minister’s ability to learn from the job in ways that will enhance professional practice. Finally, the context within which ministry and learning take place is an important part of the Doctor of Ministry program, including both the local community within which the student works, as well as, the wider society and global community of mankind.

Degree Requirements

Successfully complete a minimum of 60 quarter units of coursework determined by the student and the student’s Doctoral Committee from the Doctor of Ministry course list and any other coursework prescribed by the student’s Doctoral Committee with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.

•  Successfully complete the Integrative Review
•  Successfully complete 48 quarter units of concentrated course work.
•  Successfully complete 12 quarter units of the Dissertation/Research Project.
•  Successfully complete the degree requirements within the time limit.

Time Limit

The Doctor of Ministry program must be completed within 4 years from the time the student commenced the first course, as a regular student. This time limit, at the option of the university, may be extended due to special extenuating circumstances.

Doctor of Ministry– Suggested Core Classes

BBL 601 Greek Exegesis in the Gospels (4 quarter units)

Translation and exegesis of selected portions in each of the four Gospel accounts.

BBL 622 The Pastoral Epistles (4 quarter units)

An exposition of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus with emphasis on interpretive problems and relevance to contemporary church life.

BBL 812 God’s Covenant (4 quarter units)

A study of the major covenant in the Bible; consideration of prophetic implications.

BBL 822 Textual Criticism of the Old Testament (4 quarter units)

The theory and practice of textual criticism with special attention to the scrolls of Qumran and the Septuagint.

BBL 831 The Life of Christ (4 quarter units)

A study of Christ’s earthly life using a harmony of the Gospels.

BBL 900 Dispensationalism (4 quarter units)

A study of the system of biblical interpretation known as dispensationalim; history; consideration of biblical support and alternative position.

CHD 611 Theology of Ministry (4 quarter units)

An introductory survey of biblical and theological principles of ministry.

CHD 752 The Doctrine of Sanctification (4 quarter units)

Biblical emphasis; historical preview; implications for Christian counseling.

ETH 533 Christian Ethics (4 quarter units)

Structure and content of Christian Ethics; goal, motive, and norm of the Christian life; analysis of ethical issues of authority, life, sexuality, property and truthfulness.

EVG 742 Evangelicalism (4 quarter units)

A study of aspects and trends of evangelicalism from the civil war to the present.

PTR 436 One-to-One Disciplining

There are certainly advantages to being a disciple in a group setting. However, in a one-to-one environment, there are so many other opportunities for growth. The person being mentored sees God in the life of a person, and can translate that into their own faith story and struggles. Just as there is no substitute for a coach in the life of an Olympic athlete, there is no substitute for a mentor or a coach in the life of a growing Christian, and that is what one-on-one discipleship is all about.

PTR 611 Advanced Preaching (4 quarter units)

Theory of preaching, exegesis, sermonic form, meeting of the contemporary mind. Supervised preaching. Open to experienced preachers.

PTR 612 Guided Research in Worship (4 quarter units)

Individualized programs of research in the history, theology and practice of Preaching.

PTR 722 Spiritual Discipline (4 quarter units)

A course designed to assist the student of prayer and the use of spiritual disciplines.

MIS 812 Theology of Missions (4 quarter units)

Theology of missions and evangelism from a reformed perspective; principles of personal and corporate evangelism and cross-cultural communications of the Gospel.