36 credit hours | 4-6 years
This professional doctoral degree is a practical, ministry-focused degree designed to equip pastors, missionaries, key church leaders, and parachurch leaders with ministry tools for service in today’s complex and challenging world. Our focus is to help you develop advanced ministry skills, strategies, and theology for solving problems and building Christ-honoring ministries. The DMin at TEDS is an in-service program, enabling you to complete the degree while taking minimal time away. As such, it will deepen your current vocation and ministry skills.
The DMin Program is designed for personal and ministry-based transformation, with a focus on equipping leaders to meet the challenges of a Post-Christendom context and culture. This requires an emphasis on continuous spiritual growth and formation, devotion to Christ and His Kingdom purposes, renewed clarity about ministry gifts, focused mastery of key skills, and the ability to think biblically about the issues facing our community and world. The program uses a hybrid model, combining learning experiences that include classroom teaching, with in-ministry, competency-based practices. Therefore, your Ministry Project is not a final paper, but rather the culmination of the strategic work and learning you do along the way, resulting in the renewal of your local ministry throughout the entire program.
In lieu of an MDiv, other acceptable master’s level qualifications are defined as an earned ministry or theology related master’s degree, including at least 74 semester hours of graduate study in areas that closely parallel 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.
Since the DMin is not designed to be a residential program, all classes are offered in one-week intensive class sessions. Each year classes are held on the Deerfield campus, typically in March, July, and November. Non-residential courses may include those taken in conjunction with a ministry conference or event in a wrap-around format. There also exists the potential for courses to be taken in partnership with other doctoral programs at Trinity, such as our PhD programs.
Course | Title | Credits |
MN 9550 | Leadership for Today’s Church1 | 3 hours |
MN 9990 | Ministry & Missions Research Methods2 | 3 hours |
1 Ideally your first course; must be taken as one of the first three courses
2 Should be taken as your 4th or 5th course
Course | Title | Credits |
Required | 1 Theological Foundations course in concentration |
3 hours |
Required | 3 Concentration courses chosen by student |
9 hours |
NOTE
The opportunity may arise to launch a concentration based on a strategic ministry focus in response to a cultural movement or phenomenon or one that is structured within an organization or church network/denomination. These concentrations will meet the overall requirements of the program as delineated herein, but may have unique electives or experiences. Each of these potential concentrations will be reviewed and approved by the Professional Doctoral Committee before being offered.
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP (SL) |
Courses in this area help ministry leaders gain awareness and competency in strategic issues facing churches, mission organizations, and other Christian institutions. The focus of these courses will be in areas of personal and institutional leadership development, shaping vision and mission, building teams, effective ministry management, and navigating change. |
MISSIONAL ENGAGEMENT (ME) |
Courses in this area focus on the missional emphasis of God’s work in the world, both local and global. Classes will address evangelistic strategies, church-planting initiatives, cross-cultural ministry, and other related mission-driven topics. |
PASTORAL MINISTRY (PM) |
Courses offered in this area will address issues and concerns facing pastors in their roles as preachers and shepherds in a local church setting. This is a broad concentration area, which allows students the freedom to choose courses in preaching, pastoral care, spiritual formation and selected courses in the SL concentration area. |
MILITARY CHAPLAINCY (MC) |
This is a special cooperative concentration between TEDS and the branches of the U.S. 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. |
Complete 9 hours of Ministry Electives.
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.
Course | Title | Credits |
MN 9985 | Major Project Proposal | 3 hours |
MN 9991 | Major Project Research | 6 hours |
TEDS also offers a Korean DMin. Please click the link below for more information.
You’ll need to meet the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations in obtaining an F-1 (student) visa. 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 and must comply with the visa requirements.
The DMin is not a residential program. Classes are offered as multi-day intensive courses. We hold courses each year on the Deerfield campus. Multiple courses are offered primarily in March and two weeks in July, with some course offerings in other months.
DMin students 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.
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PROGRAM DIRECTOR,
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
PROGRAM FACULTY