Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

DMin

Doctor of Ministry

Doctor of Ministry

OUR DOCTOR OF MINISTRY SERVES THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD BY STRENGTHENING THE PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF PERSONS IN MINISTERIAL LEADERSHIP THROUGH INTEGRATION OF ADVANCED THEORY WITH CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE.

It is a professional program intended for persons who are in full-time vocational Christian ministry, such as pastors & pastoral staff, chaplains, Christian educators, missionaries, workers in parachurch organizations, and evangelists, both domestic and international.

Where can this degree take me?

The DMin is designed to enhance the professional competence of those already engaged in full-time ministry; it is an in-service program, enabling sutdents to complete the degree while taking minimal time away. As such, this degree’s purpose is one of deepening one’s current vocation rather than preparation for a future career.

What will I study?

DMin courses are all offered in one-week intensive class sessions (it’s not designed to be a residential program). Deerfield campus courses are offered in March, July, and November; Florida campus courses are offered in October, February, and July. These courses are preceded by personal study and followed by a project that applies the coursework to the student’s ministry. Exceptions to the nonresidential nature of the program are occasionally made; talk to Admissions for these exceptions.

  • Doctor of Ministry Core - 12 hours

    MN 9550 Revitalizing Ministry (PM, LM, PC, PR)* –or–
    MN 9555 Prolegomena for Missions and Evangelism (ME)* 3 hrs
    Systematic Theology, New Testament, & Old Testament Integrative Courses (BT) 6 hrs
    MN 9990 Ministry and Missions Research 3 hrs
    *Must be taken as one of first three courses

  • Doctor of Ministry Concentration - 12 hours

    Four courses in one area of concentration: Preaching, Leadership and Ministry Management, Pastoral Care, Missions and Evangelism, or Chaplaincy. Those in the general Pastoral Ministries category may select any combination of courses from the PR, LM, or PC areas.
     
    Pastoral Ministries (PM) This is the general category that allows students to select core courses from any of the PR, PC, or LM concentrations.
    Preaching (PR) This concentration emphasizes the proclamation of God’s Word–exegetically sound, Spirit-empowered, and culturally relevant. Suitable for anyone whose role is primarily proclamation.
    Pastoral Care (PC) The relational side of ministry is emphasized in this concentration–family life, crisis intervention, bioethical issues, and spiritual formation. It is suitable for church staff, counseling center staff, or medical chaplains.
    Leadership and Ministry Management (LM) This concentration emphasizes developing capabilities necessary to lead and organize ministry in areas of change, conflict, vision, core values, and motivation. It is suitable for various pastoral roles and those serving in ministry or missions organizational leadership.
    Missions and Evangelism (ME) In this concentration, issues related to Christian mission are emphasized–worldview, cross-cultural ministry, church planting, and the urban context. It is suitable for missionaries, church planters, parachurch staff, and others in evangelistic or cross-cultural ministry.
    Military Chaplaincy (MC) This is a special cooperative concentration between TEDS and the branches of the US Military designed for currently serving military chaplains who wish to focus on the chaplaincy in their program. Detailed information regarding this concentration is available from the Admissions Office.

  • Electives - 6 hours

    Complete 6 hours of Ministry Electives.

  • Major Project - 6 hours

    Major Project

    The culmination of the DMin program is a major project. This major project is intended to help students think theologically about ministry by requiring them to apply new concepts and methods to their ministries. The proposal for the project must be formally approved by two faculty readers, the Program Director, and the Human Rights in Research Committe. One faculty reader will be designated as mentor/first reader to the student for the duration of the project. The major project must be on a topic appropriate to the student’s concentration.

    Doctoral Project Research

    MN 9991 Doctoral Project Research (twice at 3 hrs each)

  • Current Course Offerings by Subject

     

    Preaching (PR)
    MN 9101 PR Guided Research
    MN 9110 Great Preachers and Preaching in History
    MN 9115 Increasing Clarity and Relevance in Preaching
    MN 9120 Fresh Directions in Biblical Preaching
    MN 9125 Preaching Biblical Narratives
    MN 9130 Hermeneutics and Homiletics (xBT)
    MN 9135 Advanced Expository Preaching
    MN 9140 Symposium on Dynamics of Effective Preaching
    MN 9145 Christ-centered Preaching
    MN 9160 Current Studies in Preaching
    Leadership & Ministry Management (LM)
    MN 9201 LM Guided Research
    MN 9210 Change and Conflict Management
    MN 9212 The Contagious Congregation
    MN 9214 Equipping and Team-Building
    MN 9216 Organizational Development, Intentionality, and Planning
    MN 9220 Theology of Leadership (xBT)
    MN 9224 Leadership for Large Churches
    MN 9226 Leadership as Coaching /  Mentoring
    MN 9228 Creativity and Innovation in Ministry Leadership
    MN 9230 Turn-around Churches: Principles and Practices
    MN 9260 Current Studies in Leadership & Ministry Management
    Pastoral Care (PC)
    MN 9301 PC Guided Research
    MN 9312 Discipleship in Church and Home
    MN 9314 Theology and Practice in Spiritual Formation
    MN 9316 Teaching for Spiritual Growth
    MN 9318 Theology and Ministry of Prayer (xBT)
    MN 9320 Coping with Stress in Ministry
    MN 9322 Marriage and Family Ministry
    MN 9324 Building a Church through Small Groups
    MN 9340 Current Studies in Pastoral Counseling
    MN 9350 Current Studies in Bioethics for the Chaplaincy
    MN 9360 Current Studies in Pastoral Care
    MN 9380 ME Cross-listed course
    MN 9385 ES Cross-listed course
    Missions & Evangelism (ME)
    MN 9401 ME Guided Research
    MN 9410 Multi-Ethnic Ministry
    MN 9412 Missional Church Planting
    MN 9414 Worldview and Evangelism
    MN 9416 The Gospel and Roman Catholicism
    MN 9418 Theology and Practice of Evangelism
    MN 9420 Encounter with Eastern Religions
    MN 9422 Encounter with Folk Religions
    MN 9424 Encounter with Islam
    MN 9426 The Church in Cultural Context
    MN 9428 Leadership Development Across Cultures (xLM)
    MN 9430 Symposium in Missions Leadership
    MN 9460 Current Studies in Missions & Evangelism
    MN 9480 ME Cross-listed course
    MN 9485 ES Cross-listed course
    Core Requirements
    MN 9500 New Student online orientation
    MN 9550 Revitalizing Ministry for the 21st Century Church (PR, LM, PC, PM)
    MN 9555 Prolegomena for 21st Century Missions & Evangelism (ME)
    Biblical & Theological Integration
    MN 9801 BT Guided Research
    MN 9812 Themes in the Pentateuch
    MN 9814 Teaching from Joshua
    MN 9816 Teaching from Judges
    MN 9818 Living Psalms: Perspectives, Praise, and Preaching
    MN 9820 Proverbs for the Life of the Believer
    MN 9822 Isaiah: Foundations for Theology and Ministry
    MN 9824 Missions in the Old Testament (xME)
    MN 9830 Making Romans Relevant
    MN 9832 Prison Epistles
    MN 9834 Ministry According to the Pastoral Epistles
    MN 9836 Epistle to the Hebrews
    MN 9838 The Book of Revelation in the Life of the Church
    MN 9840 Missions in the New Testament (xME)
    MN 9844 Models of Divine Providence
    MN 9846 Models of Sanctification in Ministry
    MN 9848 Postmodernism and Implications for Ministry
    MN 9850 Destiny of the Unevangelized (xME)
    MN 9852 The Gospel and Contemporary Cultural Expressions (xME)
    MN 9854 History of Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism
    MN 9856 The Theology and Ministry of Jonathan Edwards
    MN 9858 Revivals and Revivalism
    MN 9860 Current Studies in Bible & Theology
    MN 9880 ME Cross-listed course
    MN 9885 ES Cross-listed course

    Major Project:

    MN 9990 Ministry & Missions Research Methods (required for all concentrations)
    MN 9991 Major Project Research (3 hrs repeated, CR/NC)
    MN 9992 Major Project Extension (reperepeatable, NC)

DMin Faculty

Director: Martin Crain

The faculty you’ll meet will vary widely depending on your concentration. We often have DMin seminars taught by affiliate and part-time faculty such as Bryan Chapell (Chancellor of Covenant Seminary, author of Christ-Centered Preaching), Gary Hoag (the Generosity Monk), Walter Kaiser (widely read biblical scholar and author), and Ed Stetzer.

Additionally, many of our full-time faculty frequently teach DMin seminars; meet some of them below.

View All Faculty

What are the prerequisites for admission to this program?

Applicants for the DMin program are required to:

Possess a Master of Divinity degree or other acceptable master’s level qualifications (see full prerequisites for details).

Have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all master’s work.

Have had at least three years of consistent full-time ministry experience after receiving the MDiv or its equivalent; exceptions can be made for ministry experience prior to receiving the MDiv.

Take and submit scores from the Miller Analogies Test (MAT).

Have prerequisite study equivalent to 9 semester hours of graduate courses appropriate to the concentration selected.

Since the program is heavily dependent on computer skills, applicants should be able to use a current word processing program; ownership of a desktop or laptop computer is required, along with internet and email capabilities.

View All Prerequisites

Doctor of Ministry Prerequisites

In lieu of an MDiv, other acceptable master’s level qualifications are defined as an earned ministry or theology related masters degree, including at least 74 semester hours of graduate study in areas closely parallel to Trinity’s MDiv curriculum. Specifically, this should include 12 semester hours of Old Testament, 12 semester hours of New Testament, 12 semester hours of Systematic Theology, 3 semester hours of church history, and 35 semester hours of free electives. On rare occasions, credit may be given for distinguished teaching experience. Students who lack a limited number of these prerequisites may be admitted with a deficiency that must be removed through appropriate master’s course work taken at or through an accredited seminary before enrolling in the fifth DMin course.

Those who have ministry experience prior to their MDiv work can be admitted on this basis: normally, three years full-time experience prior to the MDiv are considered as equivalent to one year of post-MDiv full-time experience.

Special Instructions for International Applicants

You’l need to meet the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations in obtaining an F-1 (student) via. This requires additional admissions information and paperwork. International applicants whose first language is not English must also submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

All international DMin program students, including Visiting DMin students and students from Canada, are now required to enter the United States with an F-1 visa. DMin residential students (i.e. living in or near Deerfield and taking semester-length courses) must comply with the same visa requirements as other program residential applicants (see Admissions section).

DMin nonresidential students (i.e., commuting to the Deerfield Campus on a course-by-course basis) must also obtain an F-1 visa. Students who enter the United States to pursue the Doctor of Ministry degree without the F-1 visa potentially jeopardize their ability to complete the degree and reenter the United States. F-1 visas will remain valid as long as reentry into the United States for the purposes of study occurs at least once every five (5) months. A new visa will be required if reentry does not occur within this time period.  Hence, full-time progress for DMin international nonresidential students is defined as taking at least one course in each of the three sessions (Fall, Spring, Summer) per year.