Doctor of Ministry

The Doctoral Project

Each student will identify a research question, design, conduct, and report on their research, and complete a written project and presentation based on the research conducted. The Written Project requires each student to complete a written project of 100-130 pages in length plus unlimited front and back matter. This written project will be subject to a juried review by the Project Chair, Program Director, and Second Reader to determine successful completion.

An area of research should be chosen to reflect the student’s passion, but with awareness of the need to have access to a research population and research setting in order to execute the practical application of the research designed. The following reflect potential areas of research but should not be considered as an exhaustive list:

• Congregational Life and Ministry (e.g., pastoral care, pastoral counseling, spiritual renewal, youth work, church growth, evangelism, missions, preaching, teaching, worship, administration, leadership, stewardship)
• Church and Society (e.g., discipleship, education, spiritual formation, the effective use of technology in ministry, distance learning, public theology, social ethics, questions of race, gender, economics, apologetics, worldview) 
• Christian Thought (e.g. biography of an historic figure, study of a denominationally critical time period, study of a contemporary belief or behavior, denominational theology, theology of a specific cultural group)
• Biblical Studies (e.g. exposition of the thought of a biblical author or text of scripture and its applicability to ministry, delineate a biblical theme across a biblical corpus and describe its contribution to contemporary ministry)
• Student-Initiated (Projects that are not within the scope of the options above will be considered with permission from the Program Director)