Master of Divinity
Degree (M.Div.)
The M.Div. is a graduate professional degree
that equips women and men of various backgrounds and life situations
for ordained leadership in churches and other forms of ministry.
The M.Div. provides a broad and deep foundation in the essential
knowledge and skills for leading faith communities in a pluralistic
and rapidly changing world. Students learn to draw on the historic
resources of the Christian faith and depths of their own and others’
experience of God to lead the people of God as they respond to the
questions, needs, and struggles of our complex world.
The M.Div. prepares students superbly for the classic functions
of ministerial leadership: leading worship, preaching, giving care,
educating and forming people in the faith, and leading a congregation
or religious organization. Today the pace of change in the church
and the world is so great that the challenges faced as a leader
of people of faith 20 years from now may be quite different from
those faced at graduation. As such, this degree prepares students
for ministry in a way that emphasizes the capacity to analyze the
new situations to be faced, in light of all the resources of the
faith, so people of the church can be led in new ways to which God
will call them. See the Educational Goals
established for this degree.
The great diversity of roles in which M.Div. graduates
serve shows that the degree prepares students well for a wide variety
of forms of religious leadership. The seminary also offers seven concentrations
in the M.Div. degree, allowing interested students to develop special
expertise in particular dimensions of ministry.
Concentrations of the
Degree
Requirements of the
Degree
The M.Div. requires 90 credit hours of study, normally taken as
30 3-credit courses. On a full-time basis, these courses are taken
over three years at a rate of 10 courses per year. The degree can
be completed on a part-time basis. All work must be completed within
seven years. The specific requirements are as follows:
1. Satisfactory completion of 90 semester hours
of credit. Of these, 66 hours are taken in the form of the required
courses listed below, and 24 are taken in the form of free electives.
Required courses that must be taken within the first full-time
equivalent year of study:
Required courses taken within the second and
third full-time equivalent years of study:
2. Satisfactory completion of three personal
and professional development consultations. These consultations
are provided by North
Central Ministry Development Center, adjacent to the seminary
campus. Unit I is to be completed during the student’s first
autumn term; Unit II during CS25I-252;
and Unit III during IS351.
The consultations are intended as occasions for reflection on vocational
aptitudes and choices in ministry.
3. Completion of an Integrative Notebook documenting the
student’s individual work in integrating the different elements
of the student’s course of study in a manner appropriate to
his or her identity and context. This notebook or portfolio contains
a variety of materials (e.g., course papers, sermon videotapes,
reflections papers, art projects) and is the basis for annual conversation
with the student’s advisor concerning his or her educational
progress.
4. Participation in the Spiritual Chronicle process, which
supports a student’s integration of the spiritual, academic,
and vocational dimensions of his or her seminary journey.
5. Recommendation by the faculty, which takes into account
academic, personal, and professional readiness for ministry.
Denominational judicatories may have additional requirements for
ordination. Students should be in conversation with denominational
representatives for candidacy procedures. |
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Contact
Information
Glen
Herrington-Hall
Director of Admissions
Please call the admissions
office at 651.255.6107 with any questions. |
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