Doctor of Ministry
December 13, 2023 2023-12-18 17:24Doctor of Ministry
The Doctor of Ministry program is designed to provide the highest professional education in various areas of ministry for the students who are successfully engaged in ministry.
Objectives
Each graduate of the D.Min.program will be able to:
- Objectively evaluate the ministry in which the student has been involved.
- Analyze and understand problems that have hindered the ministry from spiritual maturation.
- Share these struggles with fellow pastors, see how they cope with these difficulties, and learn from each other about how to deal with them.
- Formulate diverse strategies to overcome these obstacles and discover which strategy may best work for the individual church.
- Create a project which one can implement to achieve the devised strategy.
- Report the outcome of its implementation so that fellow pastors may benefit from it.
Admission Requirements
WUV accepts those who have earned a M.Div. degree from accredited institutions or its equivalent. Candidates are required to have had three years of ministry experience after receiving a M.Div. degree or the first graduate theological degree which may include the minimum of 72 graduate semester hours of theology, biblical studies, and the arts of ministry. For those who fall outside these requirements of admission, the Admissions Committee of the Doctor of Ministry (ACDM) will review each case to determine admission.
Candidates are required to have earned a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) for master‘s level work. Students whose GPA is below this level may be provisionally accepted into the program. These candidates will be put on probation until they successfully complete nine credit hours. Additional class work to improve their grades may be required.
Candidates are required to have earned a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) for master‘s level work. Students whose GPA is below this level may be provisionally accepted into the program. These candidates will be put on probation until they successfully complete nine credit hours. Additional class work to improve their grades may be required.
Applications
Doctor of Ministry applications are received and reviewed several times a year but applications should be presented to WUV (Neal T. Jones Seminary) at least a month prior to the first seminar. Accepted students may start their studies at any of the D. Min seminars offered regularly or modularly throughout the year.
The ACDM may grant admission on the basis of the required credentials alone, or request the applicant to submit additional materials and/or schedule an interview with the applicant. The Director of the D.Min.program will conduct the interview.
Admissions policies and procedures are subject to change without notice. New students are required to submit a non-refundable tuition deposit to confirm acceptance of admission.
Unless candidates start the program within one calendar year of admission, they will automatically lose eligibility and must go through the admissions process again.
Required Documents for Application
- Transcript(s) for M.Div. and/or its equivalent graduate theological degree from the school previously attended. The degree programs may include theology, biblical studies, and the arts of ministry and should have minimum 72 graduate semester hour.
- Statement of three years of ministry experience after his/ her first graduate theological studies.
- Evidence of current ministry involvement.
- Resume and Statement of the Purpose of Study
- Three Reference Letters: two from pastors and one from a professor
Program of Study
In order to complete the D. Min program, candidates must satisfy two basic elements: Course work and Project or Thesis. Here the Project refers to particular casework carried out in tandem with the candidates‘ ministry. The final product of the project will take the shape of a well-researched report. The "Thesis" indicates written a work that proves a candidate‘ theological assertion or view on certain aspects of ministry by means of practical examples. The degree shall be completed within minimum three years to maximum six years. Students whose programs continue into a fourth year will be charged a continuation fee for that year and any additional approved years. To earn the D. Min degree, students must successfully complete total 36 credit hours that consist of 30 hours of course work and 6 hours of project/thesis writing.
Course work
The course work is to be completed within the first three years. The course work can be implemented on a semester basis or an intensive basis. A semester course work consists of guided studies with assignments and seminars during the given semester. An intensive seminar format consists of three parts.
First, three months prior to the intensive seminar, students will receive information on the forthcoming seminar with a list of required reading and written works for each course. These pre-seminar assignments are to be completed before the seminar begins. The written assignments will be graded as part of each intensive seminar.
Second, the intensive seminar-proper will last a week, from Monday morning until Friday afternoon. During that week there will be lectures by designated instructors for the assigned topics. It will be a time of interaction with the instructors and with other students.
Third, a project is to be completed after the seminar based upon the reading and class work. The purpose of the project is to enable the seminar students to integrate the course content with his or her ministry. This project will be graded as part of the intensive seminar class. A given semester course work or a given intensive course work may be adjusted to incorporate new situations of the semester or the intensive course work.
Major Project or Thesis
The major project or thesis is the highlight of the D. Min program. It is designed to help students to think theologically about ministry by requiring them to apply new concepts and methods to their ministries.
The proposal (prospectus) for the project or thesis must be formally approved by candidate‘s Project/Thesis Committee. One faculty reader will be designated as the first reader and other two faculty readers as second readers to the candidate during the project or thesis writing. The first reader will read the student‘s thesis or project and guide the student to complete the work through giving feedback and recommendations for further reading and research. If the candidate is not able to submit his/her final project/thesis in an electronic file format by May 15, a preliminary graduation certificate will be awarded to him/her at the graduation ceremony. The student shall submit his/her final project/thesis within the time limit set during the oral defense. When the school receives the student‘s final project/thesis, it will issue the original graduate certificate to him/her.
Oral Defense
Upon preliminary approval of the project/thesis by the first reader and reviewers, the student shall ask a meeting for his/her oral defense. The oral defense shall take place at least two weeks prior to the graduation date. During the oral defense the first reader and/or second readers may give further comments and the preliminary project/thesis shall be finally approved.
Curriculum
The D.Min.program has the following areas of studies: Church, Leadership, Practice, and Mission. Each student is required to complete thirty six (36) semester credits: thirty (30) credits of seminars, 0 credits of Doctoral Colloquium and six (6) credits of project/thesis. Each seminar consists of five (5) credit hours, with only one exception of Doctoral Colloquium of 0 credit hours. If deemed necessary, new areas or seminars may be added.
RS 801 Research Methods in Theology 0 credits
Church: 5 credits
- THL 851 Systematic Theology in Ministry
- THL 853 Implications of Trinitarian Theology in Ministry
- THL 855 Implications of Christology in Ministry
- THL 870 Theology of Ministry for the Korean Congregations
- THL 871 Incarnation Theology in Korean Immigrant Ministry
- CHM 832 Modern Church Growth
- CHM 835 Analysis of Modern Church Growth Movement
- CHM 841 Study of Small Group Ministry
- CHM 845 Building Team Ministry
- WML 831 Analysis of Worship Renewal Movement
- WML 832 Liturgics and Worship Renewal
- SOC 851 Christian Sociology for Pastors
- SOC 852 Sociological Study of Religion and Its Implications for Ministry in the Korean/Korean-American Contexts
Leadership: 10 credits
- CHM 850 Leadership
- CHM 851 Modern Leadership and Pastoral Leadership
- CHM 852 Christian/Church Leadership
- CHM 857 Spiritual Growth and Congregations
- CHM 859 Mobilizing and Equipping the Laity for Ministry
- CNS 821 Advanced Pastoral Counseling
- CNS 825 Pastor, Family and Church
- CNS 826 Pastoral Family Counseling
- CNS 832 Pastoral Marriage Counseling
- CNS 848 Crisis Ministry and Clergy Self-Care
- CNS 851 Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution
- SFM 810 Tending God’s Families: Family & Congregations
- SFM 840 Ministers as Cross-Cultural Bridge-Makers
- SFM 850 Responsible Spirituality for Ministry in Pop-Culture
Practice: 10 credits
- BIB 851 Advanced Biblical Interpretation and Preaching
- BIB 852 Analysis of Preaching in the Bible
- BIB 853 Biblical Interpretation that Transforms Preaching
- BIB 854 Advanced Biblical Preaching in the Gospel of Luke
- BIB 855 Preaching from the Romans
- BIB 856 Relational Preaching from the Corinthian Correspondence
- BIB 861 Exegesis of the Bible
- BIB 862 Preaching from the Theological Conflicts of the Apostolic Church
- BIB 865 Hermeneutics of Immigrant Churches
- BIB 866 Points of Preaching from the Gospels
- BIB 867 Immigrant Theology from the First Peter
- BIB 869 Points of Preaching from the Revelation
- PMN 861 Biblical Preaching in the Pastoral Ministry
- EDU 840 Christian Education and Educational Ministry
- EDU 842 Christian Alternative School and Educatio Dei of the Educational Principle
Mission: 5 credits
- CHM 871 Multi-cultural Church Ministry
- MSS 851 Christian Ethics in Multi-Cultural Context
- MSS 852 Christian Ministry in the Multicultural Contexts
- MSS 853 Evangelism and Culture in the Korean Context
- MSS 855 Paradigms of Missions as Foundations of Church Ministry
- MSS 856 Application to a Mission Field for Establishment of Small Churches
- MSS 858 Enthusiast Spirituality and Mission Field
RS 921 Project/ Thesis Writing: 6 credits
36 Total Credit Hours
