Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Students, often already rich in ministry experience, will arrive at The Abbey to find a fitting launchpad for their DMin studies at CTS. Together with other ministry practitioners, students will engage in various orienting activities for their studies, including: self-assessment of their own spiritual health and development, peer input gathered from key leaders within their own ministry context, and the feedback of others who are beginning their studies at CTS.

The Abbey will begin with the ministry context of a leader, and will seek to draw direct lines of correlation between the leader and ministry, inviting students to initiate a plan for growth and development through the DMin program at CTS.

The product of this self-reflection and peer interaction will be a reflective paper which articulates the student’s current sense of calling and overall health in ministry, as well as deliberate goals, strategies, and means of assessment for their development.

Astute pastoral leaders know their ministry context: They are keenly aware of the stirring of the Holy Spirit in hearts and culture, but also that which seems stuck and immovable.

Burdened by an awareness of difficult realities and pressed by ministry demands, many ministry practitioners lack the time and space to construct a sound, theologically informed method of investigation which can help them make sense of the challenges unique to their setting.

This course is designed to provide ministry practitioners with the insights and tools needed to make a careful, thorough, and theological investigation of their own contexts and respective challenges.

Students will develop a framework to pursue sound investigation of whatever ministry challenge will be explored in their thesis project.

Wise pastoral leaders will learn the craft of listening to and evaluating the impact of singular voices from their ministry context. Students will be asked to come with data from their own ministry context to contribute to this curated conversation.

Together students will learn ethnographic skills and analysis that will impact and give rise to ministry models that account for the blessed diversity of voices and influences found in their ministry setting.

Students will be introduced to the basics of qualitative research design, the use of quantitative methodology, and philosophies for how research contributes to the health and mission of the church. Students will be equipped with the tools necessary to envision, research, and carry out a defensible DMin thesis project.

What is God up to in our world? Some will say “redemption.” We’ll take a closer look at what that redemption looks like in various contexts.

We will explore questions such as: How does the function and act of preaching around the world shape weekly engagement with our context? How do we make sense of the mission of God globally, learning from the Body of Christ so that we can better enrich ministry practices and models in our own context?

Students will be asked to speak with clarity about God’s mission in them and their context, and listen well about the same from others. Students will finish this course with a broader and richer understanding of God’s work in our world, able to use this knowledge to better inform their own research and thesis project.

This course will invite students to reflect on critical theological themes (biblical, historical, ethical, systematic, etc.) as they relate to the specificity of their context and experience.

Students will develop skills for reflecting theologically on issues that impact their contextual ministry experiences, and will learn to put their theological reflections in conversation with peers in their cohort, and other contexts outside of the student’s immediate ministerial context. This course will also examine significant local and global theological trends impacting the Church.

Careful attention will be given to that which is helpful for the flourishing of ministry and the Mission Dei within the student’s context, as well as that which causes hindrances in ministry practice in the student’s context.

The Church spans various cultures, contexts, social settings, and challenges. This course will try to examine key questions for ministry leadership including: What is leadership? What does it look like for ministry leaders to lead well? What role does context play in the leaders’ ability to be transformative?

This course will wrestle with questions of applied ministry leadership by revisiting important leadership basics (Bowen Theory, Adaptive Leadership, Narrative Leadership, etc.) and also by inviting students to be reflectively engaged in increasing their level of self awareness and contextual awareness.

This course will operate with a functional understanding of the Missio Dei and its impact on the global and local context for ministry.

Once a student has registered for and/or completed 24 credits, they may join in the Return to the Abbey course. This trip to the Abbey serves a variety of functions, including: a) a return to self reflection and an understanding of the growth that has taken place personally over the course of studies, b) an oral exam in which the student will be asked to demonstrate personal and theological insights associated with course work and development, and c) overall theological understanding and insight sufficient to warrant the proposal and pursuit of a major thesis project.

Partnered with your required courses will be elective courses led by current scholars and practitioners designed to meet the needs of ministry leaders