Objectives

The Doctor of Ministry program is designed for people who are committed to the practice of ministry. It is for ministers of demonstrated ability, and endeavors to enhance their effectiveness by means of an advanced-level curriculum integrating the experiences of ministry with the academic resources of the Seminary.

Ministry is fundamentally theological in character, and disciplined theological reflection must inform the work of ministry in all its offices and functions. The D.Min. Program aims at enabling pastors to develop an integrated theology of ministry that will embrace the total life and mission of the church.

Our goals for professional theological education are those of the Seminary as set forth at the beginning of this section of the catalog. The specific goals of the doctor of ministry program at Wesley are:

• to acquaint students with current trends and issues in the theological disciplines
• to encourage students to further integrate the theological disciplines with their practice of ministry
• to equip students to add to the church's public fund of knowledge about the practice of ministry
• to provide students with opportunities for establishing lasting collegial ties with other students

General Requirements and Length of Program

Wesley's D.Min. degree requires successful completion of thirty hours of course work, plus a D.Min. project and project paper. Classes are held during intensive two-week periods in January and May.

Each D.Min. "track" (area of focus) requires the successful completion of 24 core course hours and 6 hours of electives. Three hours for the Project Seminar are included in the core courses. Transfer credit is not accepted as a substitute for the required core courses. The project is generally written during the third year.

Electives may be completed through elective courses offered during the intensive terms (for those who have completed their core courses), through independent studies with Wesley faculty, or through work transferred from other ATS accredited institutions using the D.Min. program's transfer credit procedure. Up to 6 hours of elective courses may be taken outside Wesley. Work completed prior to entry into the D.Min. program at Wesley will not be applied towards the D.Min. degree. Transfer work must be done on an accredited, doctoral level and must not be applied toward the awarding of another degree.

The 30 hours of course work are normally completed within three and a half years. A limit of six years will be allowed for completion of the D.Min. degree. The faculty's Doctor of Ministry Committee will entertain requests for time extensions in circumstances of unusual gravity. Students who have outstanding work and incomplete grades from the January and May terms of a given year will not be allowed to enroll in courses for the following January. Course work must be started within two years after admission into the program; otherwise, eligibility for admission will be reviewed.

Two months before the January or May intensive term, students receive their reading lists and preparatory assignments. Each of the two weeks of the intensive term requires 30 contact hours with the professor. After the intensive term, students have two months to complete course assignments. The two weeks on campus for the intensive term are devoted entirely to class interaction on the basis of the preparatory work.

Peer learning is an essential part of Wesley D.Min. programs. D.Min. core courses are normally limited in enrollment to those students in a given D.Min. track.

Ministerial setting is also an essential part of Wesley's D.Min. program. Students are encouraged to engage people in their ministry settings in a variety of ways, from personal support and accountability to participation in the projects and oral examinations.

The Project Paper

Each student will write a project proposal in the Project Seminar. When the seminar instructor approves a student's project proposal, that proposal is forwarded to the D.Min. Committee for assignment of a faculty reader. Upon payment of a $250 Reader's Fee, the student is formally advanced to candidacy status in the D.Min. program. The faculty reader will serve as a consultant to the candidate for selection of the specialized elective courses as well as the development of the Project Paper.

The Project itself should be started as soon as possible following the approval of the proposal, advancement to candidacy, and assignment of a faculty reader. A first draft of the complete Project Paper is due in the D.Min. Office by February 1 preceding graduation. During the month of March preceding graduation, each candidate will make an oral presentation and evaluation of his or her project. Proposed venues for this presentation should be cleared with the D.Min. Office. Two copies of the Project Paper in final form, together with two copies of a 100-word abstract, and various forms provided by the Library, must be submitted to the D.Min. Office on or before the date specified in the Seminary Calendar.

Electives

Any combination of the following options may be used to fulfill the elective course requirements for a D.Min. track:

• elective courses/seminars for D.Min. students offered during the January and May intensive terms
• a maximum of six credit hours taken as independent study under the direction of Wesley faculty
• immersion study experiences, directly related to the subject of focus for a given track, for a maximum of six credit hours
• advanced seminars in Wesley's M.Div. curriculum in which Wesley faculty agree to develop additional readings and assignments for the D.Min. student.
• approved courses at member institutions of the Washington Theological Consortium.
• work at other ATS approved institutions with prior approval from Wesley's D.Min. Office

Current D.Min. Tracks

Faith and the Health of Communities

Subject of Focus: Leadership capacities of religious professionals working on the boundaries of faith and public health practices. Uses the combined resources of Wesley Theological Seminary, the Interfaith Health Program of Emory University in Atlanta, and Methodist Healthcare of Memphis

Core Courses:

• Dynamics of Power and Health
• Salvation, Health and Community
• Biblical Faith and Human Health
• Health as Urban Ministry
• Faith, Flesh, Health Alignment 
• Building Religious Leadership Competencies for Serving
• Project Seminar
• Religion as an Asset for Health: The Social Science Perspective

Spirituality and Story

Subject of Focus: Narrative as a category of spirituality and as a tool by which pastors participate in the work of weaving human stories into the fabric of God's story.

Core Courses:

• Spiritual Biography and Autobiography
• Theology as Story
• The Narratives behind Catholic Spirituality
• Narrative Collapse and Restoration: Story and Healing
• Paul's Use of Narratives to Shape Congregations
• African-American Novel as Theological Source
• Engaging the Narratives of Other Religions
• Project Seminar

Church Leadership Excellence

Subject of Focus: Personal issues and public practices of those called to lead the church. A serious engagement with contemporary secular leadership studies is held in tension with contemporary theologies of the church.

Core Courses:

• Effective and Visionary Leadership
• The Many Faces of Leadership in the Hebrew Bible
• Reading Contexts and Congregations for Change
• Jesus and the Analogs for Leadership
• Contemporary Issues and Best Practices in Church Leadership
• Leading a Community of Moral Formation
• Project Seminar
• Creativity and Play for Church Leaders

Campus Ministries

Subject of Focus: The unique challenges of the mission field of the college or university campus: working in the shadow of secular science, witnessing in a pluralistic faith environment, meeting the respective needs of traditional and non-traditional students, connecting with local congregations, and long-term financial support.

Core Classes:

• The Spirituality of Young Adults and Non-Traditional Students
• Theology for Campus Ministry
• Education for Stability and Change: Biblical Perspectives
• The Life and Vision of Howard Thurman
• Best Practices in Leadership and Administration for Campus Ministers
• Moral Discernment in the Context of Pluralism
• Project Seminar
• Worship for Campus Ministers

Other D.Min. Tracks

(closed to new students, but may be offered again)

The Arts and Theology

Subject of Focus: Use of artistic and theological resources to unfold theological truth, to recognize the glories and claims of creation, to articulate the depths of suffering, and to enhance the proclamation of the gospel of the Incarnate One in the congregation and the public arena. The venue for this doctor of ministry track will rotate between classroom, studio, stage, museum, and church.

Core Classes:

• Spirituality and Creativity
• Integrating the Arts into Worship
• The Hebrew Bible and the Arts
• Songs of Zion: Ancient and New
• The Jazz Tradition: An American Treasure and Theological Resource
• Redemption and Reconciliation in Contemporary Drama
• Historical Theology in Ethiopian and Russian Iconography
• Project Seminar

Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling

Subject of Focus: Designed to equip ministers with the theoretical and practical tools necessary for more effective and reflective ministry in care and counseling. It will include a strong emphasis on biblical and theological foundations combined with current theory and best practices. Participants will grow in both theological and clinical competencies, in the ability to reflect as pastoral theologians and in the ability to respond to pressing human needs as skilled caregivers. Four hundred clinical hours in an AAPC affiliated or accredited center or two units of ACPE-recognized CPE are required.

Students in this program will select one of two possible tracks for clinical training:

• Pastoral Counseling - In this track, students will be required to complete 400 clinical hours in an AAPC (American Association of Pastoral Counseling) affiliated or accredited center. Normally, these client hours as well as additional supervisory and case conference meetings will occur over a period of two years.
• Clinical Pastoral Education - In this track, students will be required to complete two units of ACPE (Association for Clinical Pastoral Education) recognized CPE from the time of entering the D.Min. program. These may be full time or extended units of CPE. Students will be responsible for securing their clinical settings in consultation with Wesley's D.Min. faculty. The clinical component fulfills 6 credit hours of this D.Min. degree. Students also may apply these clinical hours toward certification or licensure in various professional associations (e.g., AAPC, ACPE, and APC).  

Core Courses:

• Foundations and New Directions in Pastoral Theology and Practice
• Assessment, Diagnosis, and Psychopathology
• Theological Foundations for Pastoral Care and Counseling
• Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counseling
• The Bible as Source for Pastoral Care and Counseling
• Ethnography and Transformation of Congregations
• The Care and Counseling of Couples and Families
• Project Seminar

Preaching in the 21st Century

Subject of Focus: new disciplines worth mastering, new insights from biblical interpretation, hermeneutics, and communications theory; renewing the church in our time through the act of preaching.

Core Courses:

• Words and The Word: Theology and Rhetoric
• Invigorating the High Holy Days
• The Public Pulpit
• Biblical Interpretation for Preaching to a New Generation
• Sermon Series that Engage the Heart and the Mind
• Harry Emerson Fosdick: A Case Study in the Preacher as Pastoral Care Giver
• Preaching with Prophetic Imagination
• Preaching and Multi-Media
• Leading through Preaching
• Project Seminar

Spirituality, Medicine, and Ministry

Subject of Focus: Pastoral care is so immediate and pressing that there is little time to reflect on its significance. New sources, tools, and perspectives for the conversation over the pastoral experience of those who are called and equipped to share news about a healing balm in Gilead. Participants will be encouraged and equipped for a more intentional, collaborative, and creative exercise of the gifts of healing.

Core Courses:

• The Healing Ministry of Jesus
• Pastors and Health Care Providers: Caregiving and the Meeting of Cultures
• Spirituality and Medicine
• Creativity and Play in Pastoral Ministry
• Best Practices Combining Spirituality, Medicine, and Ministry
• Providence, Evil, and Suffering
• Ethical Issues in Medicine
• Project Seminar

Life Together: Spirituality for Transforming Community

Subject of Focus: The continued spiritual formation of church leaders with special attention to the local congregation as a transformed and transforming community. Those who complete this track will be better equipped to lead congregations from aggregates to community, from self-absorption to mission, and from accommodating practices to alternative practices grounded in a biblical spirituality.

Core Courses:

• Spirituality and Social Transformation
• Listening as a Tool for Transformation of the Congregation
• Contemplative Grounding for Congregation Life and Worship
• Howard Thurman
• Life in Communion: Trinity, Church, and World
• Project Seminar
• The Congregation as Family: Applications of Family Systems to Life in the Congregation
• Exodus, Covenant, Exile: The Formation and Transformation of God's People

Leadership in Multi-ethnic Ministry from a Wesleyan Perspective

Subject of Focus: Designed to form and equip church leaders who are committed to God's intention to bless the human race through racial and ethnic difference. Participants will receive both theological foundations for ministry in diverse settings and new insights for the practice of that ministry. The crucial role of the leader and the value of retooling leadership skills will be emphasized. It is anticipated that graduates will be catalysts for creative multi-racial and multi-ethnic ministry at local and regional levels.

Core Courses:

• God of All the Nations
• Leadership in Diverse Ministry Settings
• Encounter, Exclusion, and Embrace
• Pastoral Counseling and Care in Diverse Ministry Settings
• Spirituality that Supports Leadership in Diverse Ministry Settings
• Worship in Diverse Ministry Settings
• Models for Creating and Sustaining Multi-ethnic Ministry
• Project Seminar

Elective Course Offering: A People and Their Land: A ten-day immersion in Native American history, culture, and spirituality (January 2007) 

Servant Leadership for Korean and Korean American Churches

Subject of Focus: To strengthen Korean and Korean American pastoral leaders for the work of challenging and equipping their parishioners for active ministry. Special attention is given to the model of the servant leader who finds strength in God and joy in helping others claim their ministries in response to God's grace.

Core Courses:

• Biblical Perspectives on Servant Leadership
• The Church Speaks to Power
• The Theology of the Church
• Immersion at Church of the Savior, Washington, DC
• Wesleyan Spirituality
• Gospel for the Oppressed
• Servant Leaders and the Ministry of All Christians
• Project Seminar
• Evangelism
• Effective and Visionary Servant Leadership

Spiritual Leadership for the Global Church: The Asian Track

Subject of Focus: Asian realities and mission challenges for the emerging global and local church. Faculty teams from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington and Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul will introduce pastors to the impact of global awareness on the theological disciplines that sustain ministry.

Core Courses:

• Mission for the Global Church
• New Testament
• Pastoral Care and Counseling
• Preaching and Worship
• Project/Thesis Seminar
• Leadership
• Old Testament
• Spiritual Formation
• Christian Formation and Discipleship
• Christian Ethics