Doctor's degree Ministry - Biola University

Doctor's degree Ministry from Biola University is a Campus Ph.D Religious Studies degree that prepares you for a Liberal Arts career. Talbot's Doctor of Ministry program has two parts; residency course work and the writing of a thesis project. The residency work is completed in an uninterrupted sequence of two weeks per year over three years. During your first three years, you will spend two continuous weeks per year in intensive course work. At the end of the third year, students will submit their thesis-project proposal and begin writing their thesis-project. Students have a maximum time frame of six years to complete the entire program. This program is designed to fit into your busy ministry schedule. All you need to do is get away for two weeks a year! Residency Preparation (3 times) About three months before each residency, extensive reading and preparation are assigned by the faculty-mentor. Participants should plan to devote 12 hours per week in preparation for the residency. Residencies (3 times) Each year's two-week residency consists of two one-week courses. The courses are designed sequentially for the participant to acquire increasing competency in the selected area of concentration, both in terms of conceptual understanding and praxis, from one year to the next. A principal focus of each residency is the participant's own preparation, as well as the track mentor's approval of a proposal for a major post-residency ministry project to be carried out following each residency. Students must successfully complete their post-residency projects in order to advance in the program. Spiritual Formation Retreat (1 time) During the first weekend of the first residency every student will participate in a spiritual formation retreat along with his or her cohort and mentor. This retreat will be led by Talbot's Institute for Spiritual Formation and will encourage students to experience continued growth in spiritual maturity. Personal Learning Covenant (1 time) In order to establish a framework of goals for the program that are unique to the participant's own life and ministry, the participant writes a Personal Learning Covenant. This helps the participant develop "an advanced understanding of the nature and purposes of ministry, enhanced competencies in pastoral analysis and ministerial skills, the integration of these dimensions into the theologically reflective practice of ministry, new knowledge about the practice of ministry, and continued growth in spiritual maturity" (Standards of the Association of Theological Schools). These goals are established by the students in consultation with their faculty-mentors during the first residency and carried out during the entire D.Min program. Projects (3 times) Following each of the residencies, participants will complete a project that relates their D.Min coursework with their place of ministry. The project mentor will inform the participant about expectations for content, necessary components and matters of form. Proposals for projects and nominations for on-site evaluators must be completed during the residency. Approved projects are carried out during the four to six months following each residency. The final project report must be submitted to the faculty-mentor no later than seven months after the conclusion of the residency. Both the on-site evaluator and faculty-mentor evaluate the project. Qualifying Oral Exam (1 time) During the second residency session, the participant will have a qualifying oral exam with his/her faculty-mentor that focuses upon progress to date in his/her own learning, including course work, project work and the participant's stated goals in the Personal Learning Covenant. Upon the participant's successful completion of the Qualifying Oral Exam, he/she is admitted to Candidacy Status. Candidacy Status means that the participant has demonstrated a purpose and plan for completing the degree , and that he/she is formally eligible to receive the D.Min degree upon completion of the remaining requirements. Thesis-Project and Defense (1 time) The participant's own thesis-project is the capstone project of the program. It is the culmination of previous learning in the program and a demonstration of the student's ability to engage in a lifetime of ministry as a scholar-practitioner in the given area of the participant's specialization. In addition to the faculty-mentor, the participant will be assigned a reader. With the faculty-mentor playing the lead role, these two faculty members form the thesis committee and guide the participant through the process, approving each aspect of the thesis-project from the initial proposal through to the final draft. Thesis-project proposals will only be accepted from those students who have maintained a cumulative 3.0 GPA. The final requirements for degree completion is the participant's sustaining a successful defense of the completed thesis-project in an oral examination with the mentor and the reader, and the presentation of acceptable final manuscripts. View more details on Biola University . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Religious Studies courses.